Shot Through The Heart
by IWriteSinsOrTragedies
Summary: The Chitauri left their scars on Manhatten. And the day after they had left still brought terrible things to the Avengers. For when a women shoots Tony Stark for no reason it becomes clear that some one wants to kill them. Rated T because of me being super paranoid. No slash. Tony!Whump Not a Death!Fic.
1. Chapter 1

Manhattan was silent. No cars were honking or blaring music obnoxiously. Instead it was just the silence of an entire city sleeping. After the Chitauri had left and the excitement of the day had worn off everyone who had a home went there and those who didn't stayed with people that did. And they all slept.

Even in the broken remains of Stark Tower were six extraordinary people were currently residing had this same silence. That night was the best night sleep that some of the people in that room have had in years. They were all deep and dreamless as nights come. It was a strange sort of peace but it was peace all the same.

One that they knew wouldn't last.

* * *

"Natasha, Barton, Doctor." Steve greeted as he made his way downstairs in a pair of sweats that brandished the Stark logo on them proudly.

"Morning Captain." Doctor Banner said in return barely looking up from the cup of tea he was nursing. "I see you decided to sleep in too."

Steve checked the clock that hung loosely on the wall. 8:45 wasn't really classified as sleeping in by most peoples standards but when it came to those four it was like they fell into a small coma.

"Did you see how Starks doing?" Clint asked from the couch were he was taking stock of Natasha's injuries better than he had the last night.

"You mean Sleeping Beauty?" Steve asked proud of himself for the reference. "I passed by his room to check on him and he showed no signs of being awake anytime soon." Normally he would have been annoyed by someone wasting the day away sleeping but for Tony, especially after having died the day before, was willing to cut him some slack.

"You see that's were you're wrong." Came the voice of Tony Stark from the speaker system that amazingly survived the beating Stark Tower took.

"Stark were are you?" Natasha asked looking around for a camera or a microphone to be directing her voice at.

"I'm working. Not surprised you didn't catch my trick there Steve. Pillows under the blanket is a fairly modern trick." His voice was filled with sarcasm and a joking tone that surprised most and worried the rest.

The attending Avengers went down the broken stairway that led to the glass wall of Tony's workshop were he was inexplicably pounding a hole into the floor with a hammer almost larger than he was. Pounding in the code letting them in they all stood a reasonable distance away from the man with a sledgehammer.

"Uh Tony?" Steve asked between hammer strikes. "What are you doing?"

With a final strike the floor crumpled beneath him. "Repairing my suit. Maybe building a new one altogether. Not sure yet." Tony rambled distractedly. "All I know is that I ran out of circuit boards for putting my little guardian angel in there."

"I attempted ordering new ones but Sir was very adamant." The british voice of Jarvis rang in. "May I also say that Sir has been awake for the past 72 hours?"

"Tattle tale." Tony yelled up at the ceiling, a sight quite odd if there hadn't been an A.I. system to yell at. He then turned his attention to the four people staring at him. "Hey were did Goldilocks go?"

Unsure how to go about what seemed like an erratic, sleep deprived Tony Stark Natasha just went the take-no-bullshit tactics. "He went to go see Jane. Now what is this about not sleeping for three days?"

He waved them off casually before ripping what he was looking for from the floor with a shower of sparks erupting around him. "Look I would love to have a deep heartfelt chat with all of you about the 'issue'." He said with air quotes around the issue to show how little he thought of it as being a problem. "And I know I sound like a drug addict for saying this but I can go to sleep whenever I want to."

He wandered off to the other side of the workshop were three suits were laid out and ready to be assembled. The others followed him looking closely at the two suits that were in shambles and the one that looked like the beginnings of a new project.

"Tony I really think that you should slow down." Bruce said almost patronizingly calm. "You did almost,"

"Die." Tony finished as he sat behind one of many desks and beginning to instal the new hard drive into the helmet. "Well news flash guys it wasn't an almost. Thanks to Green Giant though I'm still here and that," he blew off some dust from the part he recently dug up, "is what I would like to focus on. Being alive and my suits not the aliens, not the wormhole in the middle of the freaking sky. Just being alive."

"Sir there is someone at the door." Jarvis spoke calmly.

"Saved by the bell." Tony threw the piece down carelessly on the table before bounding up the stairs to answer the door since Pepper wasn't there to do it for him.

The four Avengers stood speechlessly still staring at the place that Iron Man used to be. "I honestly have no words." Natasha said.

"Well I have some." Clint said crossing his arms. " He's a time bomb. Soon enough he is going to blow."

Before anyone could agree a lone gunshot rang from above.


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N) Can I just say that I wasn't even planning on posting this fanfic I just decided I might as well even though I didn't xpect anything to come from it. But it has really taken a life of its own and I want to thank those of you who like it and reviewed it. P.S. I am a fanfic writer not a doctor so don't expect me to be accurate on medical stuff.**

* * *

With every step up his body ached in protest. Tony had to admit that hammering the floor after getting thrown around by those things yesterday was probably not the smartest thing he had ever done. Every single bruise and cut he had gotten the previous day had been on fire ever since he lifted the hammer up and over his head.

After they had taken Loki to S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters and the leftover shuarma was put in the fridge Tony had made the slow descent to his workshop. Having Jarvis pull his suit off he finally got to see the extent of the damage he had gotten over fighting with the Chitauri. He was surprised to find that a piece of armor had broken off into and cut his abdomen most likely from when the meaner side of Bruce saved him from pancaking into the sidewalk. The wound itself was shallow enough to not have much attention from anyone more skilled than himself with a bottle of scotch and a needle.

He was all ready to head up and get the sleep he deserved but his mind kept wandering back to the wormhole. Seeing all of those things went against everything that he believed in. And when he.. and his eyes closed. Tony didn't want to close his eyes ever again.

Getting to the main floor Tony threw his game face on before opening the door to see a woman about thirty years old wearing faded jeans and a t-shirt. When she saw him her eyes widened. ". I didn't actually think that you would answer the door." She looked almost sorry.

"Well I did." He gave her his most charming smile while making a mental note to get the security systems running again. "Look usually I have Pepper to be the one to tell you but we're not currently taking visitors at the moment."

"Would you just shut up?" She said looking stressed. "Just stop talking."

"I try not to say this often but I'm really not understanding what's going on and I'm just going to close the door now." Tony started to close the door when she pulled out a gun and shot him once square in the chest knocking him off his balance but not enough to make him fall to the ground. Instead his hand clamped over the middle of his chest while the other kept its grip on the door to keep himself standing.

"I said stop talking." She cried holding the gun with a shaky hand. The barrel of the gun leveled to his head. "I'm so sorry. Please close your eyes."

Before she could click the trigger there was a sharp noise in the air and an arrow knocked the gun out of her hand. Tony felt arms grab him under the shoulders and pull him away from the women while Steve pinned her not so gently on the wall.

"Tony?" He heard a voice say. Everything was starting to blur as he felt someone try to pull his hand from his chest. "Tony I need to see the wound. I need you to move your hand."

_I can't do that I need to stop the bleeding_, that was the only thought that went through Tony's mind. It was in vain though when his hand was pulled away even as he tried to keep it in place. Who ever pulled it away kept their grip on his shaking hand, he couldn't place why it was shaking other considering he wasn't in any pain other than the way he heart was beating abnormally.

"Shit." Said a voice above him. Tony lifted his head up just enough so that he could see his chest. There was no blood pooling and dripping off the sides instead there was a small puff of steam floating up from the Arc Reactor that laid shattered in his chest.

Reality suddenly snapped back into focus for Tony and he was painfully aware of the scared eyes of the Avengers starring at the dead Reactor. He let out a small scream of fear at the sight of his steaming chest.

"Tony you're going to be fine." Bruce told him holding a finger to his neck checking the pulse that was erratic at best. "Just try to stay calm."

_Screw calm. _Tony pushed himself up from the floor against the firm yet gentle hands of his friends with surprising strength and started stumbling to his workshop. He didn't make it very far before collapsing again. Silently he cursed at himself for being so weak and at the pain in his chest that spread like disease.

"Come on Stark." Natasha said with shocking amounts of tenderness. "Tell me what you need."

"Workshop." Was all he strangled out while trying to pull himself to the elevator. He could careless about how pathetic it must have looked he just didn't want to die. Not again. Again he didn't get far because a order was given and a pair of strong arms were keeping him from moving. A distinctly british voice rang in overhead and one of the people around him ran off.

The world started to get faded again and Tony realized just how tired he was for the first time. He followed the part of his mind that told him he it was alright to close his eyes and sleep instead of the part that told him to do literally anything else. He was even only barely aware of something hard hitting his face. Part of him was surprised it didn't hurt since the force was enough to make his head loll but the other part just let sleep take him.


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N) Reminder that I know nothing of medical stuff.**

* * *

Clint reached the top of the stairs before the rest of them. Years of training calmed his mind at the sight of one of his team clutching his chest in pain as some soccer mom pointed a gun at him. His mind was clear and efficient when grabbing his bow and quiver from the where they laid on a side table, but the vengeful part of him was what sent the arrow a little too close to her gun hand making her reel back holding a bleeding hand.

Steve literally jumped over the obstacles in front of him getting to the women in record time before holding her arm behind her back and pushing her to the wall so harshly that she gasped in pain. He watched from where he was as Bruce, Natasha, and Clint all got to work on Tony knowing that what medical training he had was ancient compared to theirs.

"Tony I need to see the wound. I need you to move your hand." Bruce said before moving the hand that was in his way of evaluating the wound. Instead of a stream of blood there was a puff of smoke as the exposed shards of a broken Reactor laid in his chest.

"Shit." Hawkeye swore as he saw what was left of the glowing machine in Tony Starks chest.

Tony seemed to have the same reaction because he was moved by the sight so much as to actually get up even though he was shaky and pale. Natasha tried to push him down but he shrugged it off though only making it a few steps before falling again. Bruce tried using calm words and tone which proved ineffective.

"Come on Stark." Natasha whispered to the man whose dark brown eyes stood out from his pale skin. "Tell me what you need."

He muttered something about his workshop which was cleared when Jarvis said that he kept extra reactors in his desk. Natasha was off searching leaving Bruce, who was beginning to look a little green and not in a sick way, and Barton to look after Stark.

"Keep him awake." Bruce ordered trying to inspect what was left of the Arc Reactor. He knew better than most how important that stupid magnet was. He counted the seconds that it remained broken knowing that as each passed by the shrapnel inside of him traveled further and closer to his heart.

"You hear that Stark?" Barton yelled at Tony as his eyes slid shut. He was going into shock. Clint showed no mercy when he slapped him on the face in an attempt to wake him up. "I swear Stark if you die I will bring you back to life and put an arrow through you."

It was too late though unconsciousness took the billionaire over as his back arched as he seemed to writhe in pain as if trying to leave his own body. Bruce cursed. "The Arc is overheating it's heating up the metal inside his body."

"What do we do Doc?" Clint asked holding Tony down as best as he could.

"Get a bowl of cold water and a cloth." Clint rushed off to the bar to get what he needed while Bruce continued barking orders. "Jarvis could you tell to find that spare reactor as quickly as possible also ask if she can grab the first aid kit."

"Of course." The A.I. quirped.

"Steve get that women away from be before the other guy comes out to say hi." Steve brought the women to the other side of the room where he sat her down and started asking her what she was doing.

The two agents came back around the same time both with the objects they had gathered in hand. "Alright I'm going to take this reactor out when I do put the wet cloth inside the cylinder so it can cool down. your hands are the smallest so you're going to have to connect the reactor to the electromagnet at the bottom."

With worried eyes and a teasing smile she gripped the reactor firmly. "Should be fun. It's just like Operation."

"Exactly." Bruce smiled assuringly. "Alright I'm going to pull this out on three. Ready? One. Two . Three." He twisted the reactor and yanked it out as gently as he could given how close to death Tony looked.

Clint got to work dunking the towel in ice water, ringing the towel, and cooling off the metal cylinder inside Tony's chest that sizzled uncomfortably. Natasha was about to instal the new reactor when Bruce screamed at them to stop.

"The bullets not in the reactor." He said eyeing the broken metal carefully. "It's still inside." Bruce took a small pen light from the med bag and shined it into the gaping hole that was Tony's chest. "It looks deep; probably sped up by the magnet."

"What do we do Doc? We can't keep this thing out of him for long." Barton put a newly wet towel into the cylinder only to pull it out with blood dripping from the end of it. "I'm guessing that's not supposed to happen."

"The bloods pooling I can't put the reactor back in until I get the bullet out and stop the bleeding." He ran a hand through his hair using every stress control technique that he had learned over the past few years. "The wiring for the reactor is to short it's not made for being more than a few inches at most from his chest."

"When I read Tony's file before I started spying on him I read that before the arc reactor he used a car battery to power the electro magnet." Natasha said. "If we attach wires to that and then to the magnet that would work right?"

It was a crazy idea that no one liked. The thought of attaching what compared to the Arc Reactor was stone age technology was not something that made any of their heart jump with glee. Which is why everyone was shocked when Bruce nodded vigorously. "Do it. Go."

Again she was off this time she got back in barley anytime at all with an expensive looking car battery that she ripped out of one of Tony's cars. She didn't fear him being angry at her when he found out as long as he was alive long enough to be able to get pissed she would be happy.

Wasting no time Bruce got to work taking the adapter from the reactor off and putting it onto the wires from the battery. "That should be good be careful when you attach remember not to touch any of the walls."

Lowering her hand gingerly yet with efficiency into she found where she needed to plug the battery in. Tony's eyes flew open as he screamed out of shock breathing heavily as the electrical current through his body shock him out of unconsciousness.

"The hell." The startled billionaire whispered in pain. Looking around warily he looked towards his chest following the wires to the battery that Natasha held in her lap. "No."

"Tony." Bruce said calmly as possible as he saw the warning signs of shock coming. "You're going into shock you need to calm down." Even as he told him to calm down Bruce grabbed a sedative from the bag, pinching Tony's neck, and letting out a sigh of relief when his friends eyes slid shut again.

"He'll be out for a few hours which is long enough for me to get this bullet out." He set to work on pulling out the intruding bullet.


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N) Longest chapter yet! Also I will publish a chapter tomorrow but then take the weekend off updating. Regular updating will continuing Monday.**

* * *

As the rest of the team brought Tony upstairs to his room Steve took advantage of time to talk to the women who sat dazed in front of him. He was startled by how young she was.

"Is he dead?" She asked with a detached look in her eyes.

Steve felt his anger flare up. "He'll be fine." He snapped. Gaining a bit more composer he asked another question. "What's your name?"

"Melissa. My name is Melissa Turning." Her eyes grew close to tears. "Please you have to help me. I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't want to hurt him."

"You got a funny way of showing that." Clint said dryly as he joined Steve in his interrogation. There was a murderous look in his eye that you don't ever want to see in the eyes of a government assassin.

"I swear. Please he has my son." She cried letting the tears that had built up fall creating streaks of mascara to trail down her face.

Steve put a hand up to stop her. "Wait who had your son? Take it from the beginning."

She took a deep breath keeping her eyes on her fidgeting fingers. "Yesterday before all of this alien stuff happened a man called me. He said that he had taken my son and that the only way I would ever see him again was if I killed Tony Stark."

The news sunk in like it was being submerged in quicksand. Trying to make sense of it was like trying to understand molecular physics. "Someone wants to kill Stark?" Said Steve. "Who would want to do that?"

Hawkeye chuckled a bit. "Come on Rodgers you've barely known him for two days and you've probably thought about it more than a fair few times."

Melissa suddenly got angry standing up abruptly enough to make both of the Avengers flinch. "Are you making jokes? I know you are friends but I could care less about him. Daniel Turning is the only person who is important to me and I will do anything to get my boy back."

"I'm sorry mame." Steve's voice was kind. "We didn't mean any disrespect. If you help us we will get your son back."

* * *

_There was a ringing noise in his ear. Silent yet high pitched making his body tense and his phone drop out of his hand. Tony felt the overwhelming need to puke out the remains of of the last meal he had but the paralysis that controlled him wouldn't allow him to twitch a finger. He felt himself being lowered down to the couch carefully but he couldn't turn to see who had him._

"_Breathe." Obadiah said behind him. "Easy, easy." He showed Tony the small device in his hand about the size of a pen. "You remember this one right? It's a shame the government didn't approve it. There are so many applications for short term paralysis._

_Tony felt the man who was once so much like a father to him turn his paralysed head to look at him. "Tony," he said cooly. "When I ordered the hit on you, I was worried that I was killing the golden goose. But you see it was just fate that you survived. You had one last golden egg to give."_

_Not the reactor, he thought, you can't do this you were the closest thing I ever had to a father if you do this you will kill me. Tony could only watch in horror as Obadiah takes a machine out and uses it to clamp the reactor making Tony's breath hitch in his chest._

"_Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you? Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb. Now, what kind of world would it be today if he was as selfish as you."_

_Tony looked in his eyes and saw no warmth or affection of any sort as he ripped the Arc Reactor out of his chest._

* * *

"No!" Tony yelled sitting upright far too quickly causing an uncomfortable tugging of the wires connected to his chest. Falling back against the cool pillows he took a moment to slow his heavy breathing. It seemed silly now that he had been so affected by a dream of something that happened years ago yet he still found it hard to slow his racing heart. As an excuse to get himself together Tony took a moment to gather his surroundings. He was in his room which was a plus but his chest hurt in ways that Tony doubted he could find the proper words to voice his discomfort. Tony also noticed that he was currently alone making the only things accompanying him the sounds of his pained breathing and the hum of something electronic. Remembering what was attached to his chest was easy, looking at it was harder.

"Hello Sir." Jarvis spoke from his speaker system. "Shall I inform you have woken."

Tony weighed his options. Tell Banner he was awake and be stuck in bed, or not doing any of that. "No I'm sure he's busy doing yoga or other hippie stuff like that."

"Actually informed me of his whereabouts and he is currently,"

"Mute." Tony called shutting up his faithful A.I.. Gingerly he stood up being mindful not to screw with any of the wires. The battery buzzed annoyingly as he picked up the car battery trying not to think about the last time he had to drag one of them with him everywhere he went.

A string of curses slipped from his mouth as he limped over to his closet grabbing a hoodie and zipping it over his chest to hide the gaping hole in his chest. The trip down to his lab was slow and after the first few flights of stairs Tony decided on the elevator being best for the rest of the way down. The ride down was longer than normal with the pain that was growing in his chest but nothing could prepare him for what happened when the doors opened.

"What the hell are you doing?" Nick Fury yelled at Tony when he walked into his lab.

"What are you all doing in here?" Tony asked. "This is where I go to get away from all of you that doesn't work when you all flock here."

"Well you're lucky we are you look like you're about to collapse." Steve went to Tony's side leading him to his desk chair.

Tony let out a sarcastic smile. "After this you going to go help an old lady cross the streets?" He let out a yelp as something was injected into his neck. "What the hell?"

Bruce threw the used needle into the trash. "Pain killer since you were just shot."

"That reminds me why am I attached to a car battery you know I have extra reactors. Was it not retro enough for you or?"

"The wiring for the Arc Reactor is to short I needed more room. I don't think we should put the reactor back on for a while. At least until the stitches heal a bit more." Bruce looked truly sorry. He knew, at least he understood, how Tony was feeling about being connected to a battery. It must be traumatic, and if it was he didn't show it.

"Great." He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "Well this thing can only last me about a week before it starts running out of juice and that pesky shrapnel goes _mono e mono_ with my heart. So I better get to work on a reactor that can keep up with me." He made to stand up wincing at the pain that spread in his chest.

Clint put a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Or you could rest so you don't rip your stiches out. I'd rather not have to clean up your blood off the floor again."

"I'm sorry have you ever been attached to a car battery?" Tony blurted out of annoyance causing a stunned silence. "That's what I thought. Now get out I don't like loitering." None of them moved. "Did I freeze time? None of you are leaving."

"This isn't a joke Stark." Fury scolded. "There is some out to kill you."

"What? Soccer mom? Steve went all Karate Kid on her." Tony said gaining a confused look from Steve. The billionaire made a mental note of another movie to add to the Captains list.

"She wasn't doing it on her own." Bruce explained. "Her son was kidnapped and the only way to get him back was by killing you."

"Also she's upstairs." Clint said gaining harsh looks from the others. "What he was going to find out eventually."

"Alone?" Tony questioned suddenly serious.

"Of course not." Fury scoffed. "Agent Romanoff is watching her."

"Where did you think she was?" Steve asked.

"She's a spy I thought she was lurking. Not babysitting a crazy lady who made me go diesel." He waved the battery to further his point before setting it down heavily. "What else did she say?"

"Nothing much." Bruce told him having asked Steve the same question. "Remember she's a victim in this too."

The mechanic brushed his hair back letting out a heavy sigh. "Alright she can stay what's another psychopath at the dinner table. Now get I have work to do."

"Are you sure it's not too soon?" Steve asked. "You did just get shot."

Tony replied with a sarcastic smile the media loved him for. "Last time I did this I was hurt a lot more than just a bullet."

When finally got them all to leave the workshop Tony slumped back in his chair and closed his tired eyes. He felt like he could feel the shrapnel moving through him like an inchworm. The pain was unimaginable but not even comparable to when a group of terrorists cut him open in a dark cage with the help of a single doctor. Compared to that this was nothing but a paper cut. Nothing would ever fully parallel to the pain of that day


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N) Alright so this is my last chapter for the week little shorter than last time but either way enjoy.**

* * *

Music blared as Tony worked on building a portable arc reactor. The work was slower than he remembered mainly due to having to drag the battery around with him wherever he went and the lousy way he felt. His body burned from the previous days injuries and his mind kept wondering leaving him often staring into nothing until he snapped back into reality.

_Most thoughts went back t_o his days with Yinsen in that vile cave. The smallest memories seemed magnified bringing back the feelings of thick damp air in his lungs and the stench of sweat was overpowering. He almost caught himself calling to his old doctor to pass him a wrench.

Working seemed to be the only thing to help. Putting his mind deep into the gears of what he was building helped him begin to feel like a human again. Even Dummy seemed less irritating than normal. Of course when he thought that the stupid bot knocked into a worktable sending wrenches tumbling to the ground.

"Unbelievable." Tony sighed wiping grease off his hands with a towel before walking over to the robot arm. "I swear I'm going to dismantle you and rebuild you as a coat rack."

Bending over slightly Tony went to pick up the fallen tools when a burst of pain shot across his chest. The battery slid out of his hand as he reached for his chest making it smash to the ground. Just as he was about to follow Dummy grabbed his arm lowering him gently to the floor.

The mechanics eyes closed as he focused on his breathing and racing heart. After a few minutes he started noticing how cold he felt and the sweat the slid down his face was cool as well. Wearily he opened his eyes to see the battery that lay in a thousand pieces next to him.

"Jarvis." He whimpered barely able to raise his voice. The pieces of shrapnel were moving through his chest and putting his body into shock.

"Sir your vitals have dropped significantly." His AI had a note of concern in his robotic voice. " has been alerted and is on his way."

"Tony!" Bruce yelled over the music Tony had almost forgotten had been playing. The doctor quickly turned off the music and went to where Tony leaned against the leg of a worktable.

"Honestly I've been in worse situations. Ask Pepper." He would have smiled if he wasn't in so much pain.

"Yeah I'm sure she has many stories to tell." He placed two fingers and Tony's neck and felt his pulse for a minute before scowling. "Why couldn't you just stay in bed."

A list of innuendos traveled through Tony's mind but all that came out was a thick cough. Time was running out and he knew it without the electromagnet the shrapnel was going to reach his heart in a manner of minutes. With a weak hand he pointed towards his desk at the nearly finished reactor. His voice was gone but Bruce didn't need to be told before he ran over to the table.

Bruce wasn't a mechanic like Tony but he did understand the science of it. Luckily the reactor itself was built and operating the rest was just wiring. He connected wires as quickly as possible his hands didn't shake as it wasn't his first time in a stressful situation. Finishing in record time Bruce brought the reactor back to his friend who looked paler than he had when he had been shot. The remaining wires for the battery was stripped off quickly and replaced with new ones.

Immediately Tony began to feel better. He was still feeling weak and useless but at least he knew that there was something worthwhile stopping the metal shards from killing him. The pain in his chest was still deafening though and consumed him.

"Tony, tell me what's wrong." Bruce was responded with Tony putting a weak hand over the whole in his chest. Quickly a painkiller was injected into Tony's neck and relief waved over him. "Better?"

It took effort to find his voice again and when he did it was scratchy like he hadn't drank water in weeks. "Was that a needle or were you stabbing me with a screwdriver. Don't ask how I know what that feels like. Spring break with engineers can get pretty intense after the first five jello shots."

"Tony." The doctor said with a wry smile; happy that his friend was making jokes. At least he hoped that was a joke. "You're rambling."

The mechanic looked around confusion appearing on his face. "Where's the rest of the free loaders. I thought when Jarvis called you would all come running."

"Sorry to hurt your ego but I'm the only one who could. The rest of the group is at S.H.I.E.L.D filling Fury in since we got interrupted the last time. They brought Melissa, the women who shot you, with them."

"And you didn't go?"

"No cause I knew you would do some stupid stunt and end up ripping your stitches out but what you achieved was even stupider. So congratulations." Bruce stood up before holding a hand out for Tony. Slowly the billionaire pulled himself up to his feet leaning heavily on the table behind him. "What did you do to the reactor by the way?"

In his hands Bruce held the glowing device that looked like a long black cuff with blue coils of energy. "I made it portable." Tony put briefly before ripping off what was left of his shirt after Bruce had torn a hole into the middle of it. There were three straps on Tony's right arm. One sitting on the shoulder, another just above the elbow, and the last in the middle of his forearm. He slipped the arc reactor over his wrist and clamping it on so it didn't twist of slide and threaded the wires through each of the straps that held them tightly against the side of his arm.

"Impressive." remarked at the design that would keep the reactor close but not in the way like carrying the battery had been. It was designed perfectly so it didn't have to be as big as it needed to be or smaller than was safe. "What's your plans for the loose wires?"

He held up a finger to silence the curious doctor before pressing a button on the reactor making tubing come out of were the wires were connected to the metal cuff to the were it connected to the magnet. Tony smiled like a child after winning the science show. "Admit it that's pretty cool."

**(A/N) Hey look I can end things without being tragic! If you don't quite get how the reactor looks just imagine a black and blue bracelet with a thin flexible cord running up his arm and to his chest. See you guys Monday and Happy Valentines Day but if you are like me and dislike this holiday discount candy day is on Sunday.**


	6. Chapter 6

Tony worked the rest of the day against the orders masked as advice from every person he knew. All he was told to do was rest and heal but just the thought of lying around not being able to work sounded like torture to him right now. He felt as though working was the only thing keeping him grounded as long as his hands were busy his mind was too.

So when the door to the lab opened and his music once again turned down Tony was already annoyed. "On contrary to public belief I can actually function on my own for at least a few hours."

"I highly doubt that." Natasha said from behind him. She took into account the state of his workshop from the hole that remained in the ground from that morning to the wide array of parts scattered about. "Looks like you've been busy."

"I've got two busted suits and one new one. As well as more plans for at least three more so I guess you could say busy." He said without looking up from the helmet he was working on.

The assassin took a swivel chair and sat on the other side of the table from the distracted man. "Any plans for sleeping in there?"

"I can sleep when I'm dead. And since I just died I've had enough for the moment." Said Tony while connecting the hard drive he had gotten from the floor to the helmet in front of him.

"Stark you know that if you need help you can talk to me right, you can talk to any of us." Out of nowhere Tony slammed the table scattering a few tools. Internally Natasha jumped but she didn't show it out of years of training. She tried to catch his eyes but they were intent on the work in front of him. "Tony, what's wrong?"

"The drive doesn't fit." Tony's voice was barely above a whisper as he closed a shaking hand into a fist while motioning towards the helmet. "Damn it!" He yelled as he wiped everything off the desk in front of him.

The funny thing was that Tony knew he was overreacting, yet at the same time he couldn't stop himself. He felt like he was out of control of his own body as his legs stumbled across the floor trying to get as far away from Natasha and the damn hard drive as he could. Tony could feel as his heart did jumping jacks in his chest and his breathing ran a marathon. His legs gave out and he found himself kneeling on the cool cement floor.

"Tony," Natasha's voice was calm and broke through the storm that was his mind. She kneeled in front of him meeting his panicked brown eyes. "Breathe with me."

Hesitantly Tony followed her exaggerated breaths. Each breath he took calmed him to the point where he felt as though he was in control in his own body. Only when that happened Tony could appreciate how embarrassed he felt. Standing up awkwardly from his shaky legs he tried to brush off what just happened to him.

"Well it's always a great time with you Agent Romanoff. Now if you'll excuse me." He attempted walking away but she only grabbed his arm and pulled him back to face her.

"Nice try Stark. But I'm not going to turn a blind eye just because your ego is hurt. Tell me what happened." Her voice never went above a yell and remained cool toned.

"I can't because I don't know alright." Tony blurted out trying to keep his heart rate down but failing miserably. "I was fine until I was not fine."

"You had a panic attack Tony."

"And how do you know?" He asked irritated. But there was something in her eye that held the answer; one Tony didn't push on. "Alright so there's that."

There was silence for a few moments that was happily broken by Natasha. "There's a storm over the ocean that Pepper can't find a flight to avoid. If you want I could get a S.H.I.E.L.D. jet to bring her back."

"No. It's too dangerous here." As much as Tony wanted to see Pepper right now he just wanted her to stay safe. "She's better off where she is."

"She doesn't agree." Natasha told him watching a blur of betrayal flash past his eyes. "She has a right to know what's going on Tony."

"Yeah I know she does." He sighed looking at the mess of stuff that he threw on the ground. "Dummy pick that up, and be quick about I have work to do." Natasha tried to cut in and tell him that he had to go rest or do anything else but Tony stopped her. "I'm just going to finish up the helmet then I promise I'll go straight to bed. Come on five more minutes."

She could see right through him and knew he would likely be up all night. But she also knew it would be cold day in hell where he would do something he didn't want to do. So she left, of course she had Jarvis send a surveillance feed through the tv in the main living room, but she left him to his tinkering where he felt most at home.

* * *

So how is he?" Hawkeye asked as Natasha came up the stairs from Tony's workshop. The other two Avengers who were standing nearby came over to hear how their team member was doing.

"He's been better." She told them all about her conversation with Tony. No one had interrupted her when she told them of Tony's panic attack but did put his head in his hands. "Do you need a minute?"

"No," Bruce sighed, "I just didn't know it was that bad."

"What can we do about this." Steve asked. "Is there anything we can do to help? Does he even want help? Every time we try he pushes us away."

They all took a glance at the footage of Tony on the huge monitor in front of them. He was currently yelling at Dummy who was knocking over as much as he was picking up. Looking at him one could hardly tell he had been shot and nearly dead less than a day ago.

"All we can do is try to be there for him." Bruce told them. "He knows he can trust us. Even though his ego is large enough to block out the sun he isn't an idiot. He knows when to ask for help."

"Does he?" Clint asked shocking them all. "I mean this is a man who was dying for a year and didn't tell anyone." It was true and they all, with the exception of a particularly shocked Steve, and that didn't make any of them feel any better. "Did you tell him about Pepper?"

"Yeah he said that he didn't want her to come back until it was safer." Natasha said with a grimace. "I'm going to ask if we can keep an agent on her just in case whoever tried killing Stark goes for the next best thing."

"That's probably best." Said Steve. "We also need to figure out who would want to kill Stark. It can't be that long of a list can it?"

The two agents collectively laughed. "Well," Barton started with a grin, "we could start with the people who want to kill him so Stark Industries would bottom out. Then we have every person who wants Iron Man out of the way. We also have the stalkers, old grudges, one night stands, and everyone who was every laid off by his company. Honestly there are probably more people in the world who want to kill him than Tasha and me combined."

"Really," The Captain asked not believing what he was hearing, "that many people want to kill him? How does he even go outside?"

Clint shrugged. "He's Iron Man."


	7. Chapter 7

**(A/N) This one is kinda short so sorry about that. But to the person who recommended I watch Avengers Assemble on Netflix thank you it's amazing I've been watching it all day.**

"Alright J." Tony called up to his A.I.. "Let's do a test run."

"I would not advise it Sir. There is still a multitude of tests that have to be made before you take a test run." Jarvis tried talking sense into the mechanic who was already heading over to the assembly station.

"Remind me to update you so you aren't such a party killer." Tony stepped on the foot holds and waited for the A.I. to assemble the suit. "Come on Jarv don't be a pouter." The mechanical arms came from the system and applied the parts to Mark VIII, not very kindly Tony might add.

When the face plate came on and the screen lit up Tony felt a strange reassurance that always came with being safely concealed in his suit. "See J? Nothing to worry about."

"Might I remind you that we haven't taken off yet Sir?" Jarvis chimed in and Tony made a note to take back on Jarvis' sass meter when he got back. "Sir the Avengers have been notified of your plans and are on their way."

"Who the hell told them?" Tony shouted.

" requested any information about you that seemed detrimental to your health." The british voice explained as the towers guests entered the workshop to see Tony in his suit.

"Here we go." Tony sighed as his mask slid up revealing his face to four very angry people. "I'm guessing your not mad because we ran out of milk right?"

"The hell did you think you were doing?" Steve asked his arms crossed angrily. "You can't go flying around after get shot."

"Oh come on I was barely shot." Tony rolled his eyes trying to lighten the mood.

"This isn't a joke Stark." Clint said. "Someone is trying to kill you. Going out in a red and yellow metal suit is just giving a target."

"Assuming they can get something that can break through the armour." He was starting to get agravated at his 'team.' They were more suffocating him then helping. "Thor couldn't do it. Those things couldn't do it, the Hul," he caught himself, "the other guy, could barely break through it. Someone who takes advantage of single mothers won't have anything that can break through this." He gestured to all of him. "Aren't you supposed to be finding a missing kid right now? Why don't you do something actually useful instead of pesting me when I'm fine."

The mask lowered quickly and flew out of the workshop through an open window leaving the other four standing in a mess of flying papers.

Tony flew high over Manhattan looking over the city that looked more than a little worse for wear. Rubble covered the streets that city workers along with other clean up crews tried to handle. He thought for a moment about heading down to help clean the city that he destroyed in the first place but he kept flying. It was his fault for all of this destruction the last thing that the city needed to be reminded of was him. So Tony kept flying trying his hardest not to look down.

"Sir," Jarvis said with concern in his electronic voice. "The Mark VIII is not ready for these heights. I would advise for you to lower altitude Sir."

He hadn't even realized how high he had been going until he looked down and the city was hidden by the layer of clouds he had flown over. Trying to angle himself downward he soon realized he couldn't. It felt as though his limbs were locked into place.

"Jarvis deplete energy from thrusters." Tony ordered alarmed the the error messages that glowed red on his screen. "J what is a error message doing on my screen for my suit?"

"The thrusters and joints of Mark VIII have been locked Sir from what appears to be an outside source. I can not stop them."

"Someone hacked my suit?" Impossible he designed the security on all of his tech himself. "Is communication still up?"

"Yes Sir thrusters and joint rotation are the only parts of the suit affected. May I ask what you are planning Sir?" Jarvis said with a voice polite as ever.

"Tell Barton to ready the quinjet. I've got a really bad idea." He waited a few seconds before he was informed of the rest of the Avengers being on there way. "Well tell them to hurry up it's getting a little hard to breathe."

Tony quickly thanked S.H.I.E.L.D. for the time they spent making their jets as fast as possible. Because between the short distance Tony got before his suit went haywire and the speed of the jet the team was there in about a minute.

"Tony, what's going on?" Steve's voice came in over the helmets sound system.

"Just shut up and open the maintenance door and aim it at me." The ship did it quickly and many more ignored questions ran through his helmet. "Jarvis open to suit, don't give me the safety speech, just open the suit."

The safety on the suit was overrode and as the metal fell of his chest he fell through the sky."


	8. Chapter 8

Free falling was a thing that Tony was far too used to. It was a necessary evil when it comes to testing out new suit prototypes. But falling through the air in a titanium alloy suit was far different than tumbling around in jeans and a tee shirt. He tried to spread himself out to slow his descent by a bit, a tactic that worked enough, but he was still falling at worrying speed.

The quinjet was approaching him quickly and he found himself being thrown bodily against the wall separating the pilot seat from the passenger area. The jet quickly leveled itself and closed the door tightly. Tony was left gasping in pain on the floor clutching his ribs.

"What was that?" Natasha asked from the copilot seat as she and Hawkeye flew back to Stark Tower.

"That was fantastic." Tony laughed once he realized that he only had at most a cracked rib. "It was like some crazy trust exercise."

As Tony pulled himself into a chair he could sense a lecture coming from his spangled friend who sat across from him with a disapproving look. "Are you insane?"

"Debatable." Tony replied carelessly.

"You go galavanting about after getting shot and nearly dying. Then pull some crazy stunt by releasing yourself from your suit thousands of feet in the air. All while there is someone with unknown resources trying to kill you."

Tony shrugged off all of the accusations that were spit at him like fire. "Basically." He was met by a disapproving look from Steve and Bruce who was checking for any signs of his stitches coming out. "Do you ever smile Rogers? I'm just wondering cause last I checked I'm still alive."

"Barely," Bruce added, "you were beyond lucky. A fall like that should have ripped out the stitches." He gave Tony an extremely serious look. "You do know that I'm not a medical doctor right, I only have about a years worth of knowledge on the subject. There's only so much I can do when you go jumping around in midair."

"Well considering the last doctor I saw was in a cave in Afghanistan I say you're doing fine." He smiled at the angry glares. "It wasn't even my fault that I had to jump out. Who ever sent soccer mom to kill broke into my suit and locked the thrusters. If I hadn't pulled a Houdini I would be dying in space. Again." Just the thought of floating in the empty vacuum of space was almost enough to send him over the edge. "Given the circumstances I think I did okay."

"What do you mean someone tampered with the suit?" Clint called from the pilot seat as he and Natasha landed the quinjet on Stark Tower's helipad. "Can someone even do that?"

"No I just decided that flying into space would be a fun thing to do." Tony rolled his eyes sarcastically before heading off the landed jet. "Give me some credit. Who ever did this though would have needed some serious equipment to get to break pass my firewalls without alerting Jarvis.

"Could we stop admiring the person who almost killed you for the second time in a day?" Steve said as they reached the bar and Tony prepared himself a drink. "Also the person who is holding a young boy hostage."

"We could," Tony started throwing the drink down all at once hoping it would sooth the shaking in his hands that no one had noticed. "Or we could not. Whoever jumped my suit would have left a fingerprint somewhere I just got to find it. Then we got him."

"You do that Sherlock." Clint sighed as he headed up the stairs to his room. "I'm going to go get some shut eye. Call me the next time you wanna go do something incredibly stupid again."

Grabbing a nearby tablet Tony got to work scanning his network carefully. "You should all do that. This could take a while." He shooed them away casually. "It's past your bedtime kids."

Grudgingly the team went to bed knowing that if Tony tried anything Jarvis would let them know in a heartbeat. So they left the eccentric billionaire to his toys hoping that he would soon put an end to the craziness and they would find a bit of normalcy again.

"Okay show me what you've got." Tony swiped the screen sending projected images like a maze, a visual representation of the complex system that was the backbone of Stark Industries. It looked untouched which was extremely frustrating. "Come on, talk to me."

All night he stood there sifting through hours of worthless facts and what looked like proof of who was messing with Tony's suits but turned out to be red hearings. It took several hours and cups of coffee before he got exactly what he was looking for.

"That's what I call results." Tony cheered his eyes wide from too much caffeine. "Now give me a name."

"Just a moment Sir." Jarvis said as he finished several complex calculations. "Um Sir there is a problem. I don't understand the result I am getting."

"And that result is." Tony knew that even if the name was false it would still be more than he had now.

"Sir the name I found is the one of Justin Hammer."


	9. Chapter 9

**(A/N) I realized that there was a plot hole in the last chapter concerning Tony thinking he had a cracked rib from his fall into the quinjet. That mistake will be fixed at some point in the near future. Thanks to MarvelLuver for pointing it out to me.**

The Avengers were all gathered as Tony explained to them in a way that didn't hide the fact that he thought Justin Hammer was indeed an idiot. If he had the time not a single one of them doubted that he would have created a powerpoint presentation to explain exactly how much of an idiot this man was. He also explained the events that took place a year ago and how Hammer was supposed to be locked away with sign of freedom. But instead he was apparently living it up in San Fransisco getting his revenge.

"Is Hammer the type of person that would go to these lengths just to get one over on you?" Clint asked.

"Ask our friendly neighborhood assassin she's the one who almost dislocated his shoulder." He smiled at her still happy at the fact that she completely took Hammer down. "But from someone who has been ten steps ahead of him his whole life; though he is an idiot he does have some dangerous skills. As much as I hate to say it he does have the capabilities to do this."

"Then it's settled." Said Steve. "Let's end this everyone in the quinjet." They all headed for the helipad when Steve put a hand on Tony's chest stopping him. "Everyone except you. I'm not taking an injured man into battle."

Tony was in outrage. "What? This is my fight I'm not going to let you end it without me."

"To bad." He replied simply. "You can't use any of the suits because any number of them could be tampered with, and if you even try getting on that jet I will take you down. Capiche?"

"Who still says capiche?" Tony asked laying back on the couch feeling defeated as he watched the quinjet take off. As much as he wanted to just throw on a suit and join them he knew he that Capsicle was right. Not even to mention that his temporary reactor is compatible with them. "Great they get to have all the fun while I'm stuck here waiting for them to return like some freaking romantic comedy."

"Sir your heart rate has severely elevated might I suggest you calm down." Jarvis had been keeping watch on Tony's vitals which had been normal until recently.

The fact that they had change so quickly wasn't what caught Tony off guard though. It was that he wasn't even that worked up about not going yet he could feel his heart beginning to speed up as he broke into a sweat. "Jarvis do a scan."

After the scan was quickly done Jarvis shared his results. "I believe you have been infected with a sort of poison Sir."

A string of curses flung through Tony's mind but none made it out his mouth. Whatever was in him had to have been from the bullet since all of his food gets checked by Jarvis before he eats it, or else Hammer had messed with Jarvis' settings as well.

Suddenly a burning pain erupted in his chest making him fall to his knees and clutch his chest tightly. It felt as though someone had thrown a hot coal in his chest. When he coughed he saw blood stain the floor.

"Call the quinjet." Tony managed to say between gasps of pain.

"I'm sorry Sir there is something blocking me from calling the Avengers." This time a few curses did manage to find their way through Tony's mouth.

Tony's vision started to fade dangerously fast. He had to do something, call someone or else wait for who knew how long it would take the others to return. Lucky for him Tony had planned ahead for a time where he would need to make a call out while his security was compromised. He had placed a satellite phone in his bar which was only a few yards away, but with the fire that slowly burned through him that distance seemed a whole lot farther away.

He felt as though he was carrying the weight of a thousand Iron Man suits as Tony stood up. Using anything he could to steady himself the short journey was made to reach the phone that was cleverly hidden away. Each step seemed to speed the rate of which the burning spread through him to the point of when he reached the bar it took all of the power he had to keep standing.

Jarvis tried to tell him something but Tony's mind was too focused on what he was doing to pay attention. His shaking hand ripped the drawer open revealing the satellite phone inside. When he picked it up another surge of pain that was enough to bring tears to his eyes made him drop it on the floor with a crash shattering the phone efficiently.

"Crap." Tony muttered painfully before promptly passing out.

* * *

The trip to San Francisco took less time than any of them thought, especially Clint who had been timing the trip and was quite proud with the result. Though he quickly forgot about the new victory when he took the time to notice the place they had landed.

"Seriously? This guy tries to build killer robots, escapes prison and ends up living in a beachside mansion?" Hawkeye took in every detail instantly memorizing the best exits and positions to hide in seconds. The places where hiding was possible was few and all poor quality like Hammer was expecting someone to attack him.

"He was almost as rich as Tony." Natasha pointed out. "S.H.I.E.L.D. tried we couldn't lock down all of it. Hammer probably had a few million hidden away just for a time like this."

Steve and Bruce looked around warily. "You know if he really was that paranoid shouldn't he have been alerted by us landing?" Steve asked.

"Correct." A voice came through speaker systems hidden throughout the yard. "I'm inviting you in." The door to the mansion swung open on it's own.

Clint notched an arrow keeping it ready for attack. "Call me crazy, but this feels like a trap." He muttered.

A laugh came through the speakers that was loud and irritating. "What is it with you super hero types and assuming everything is a trap?"

"Experience." Natasha called out as her hand gripped the gun on her thigh holster.

"Well hello." Hammer's voice drawled his greeting making anger flurry through the assassin. "You look very different from when I last saw you. I love the whole skin tight suit thing by the way. What was is," he hesitated trying to remember the name she had given him. "Natalie, right? Though I assume that isn't your real name."

The protective part of Clint was screaming at Hammer with all his might, but he also knew that Natasha could handle anything Hammer throw at her and more.

"Well please come and join me I was just getting ready to watch a movie." The intercom fell silent. Without turning back the Avengers headed inside.


	10. Chapter 10

**(A/N) Sorry it's so late when this is being published I went to see a movie then I realised I hadn't actually started this chapter yet. Luckily it went by fairly quickly. Also I'm going to do the same as last week and take the weekend off, so I'll see you on Monday with a new chapter.**

* * *

If the outside of the mansion was impressive the inside was spectacular. Glossy tiles laid out on the floor reflected the many lights of the chandelier above it giving them a look like stars trapped on the ground. Pieces of art hung on the wall that all looked old and very expensive and somehow clashed with the room and fit well in with it. Overall the appearance was enough to give someone a headache.

"Remind me to apologize to Tony." Clint muttered as they entered.

"Why?" Bruce asked him.

"I told him he had the largest ego in the world. Apparently I was wrong." The team nodded in agreement. Though Tony thought very highly of himself he never went to this level to show it off. "Look at this place it's like a Bond villain's summer home."

"I don't think of myself as a villain." Hammer announced walking into the room. "I like to think of myself as an opportunist. Besides I wasn't even the one to make the giant robots that tried to kill everyone."

"You hired the man that did." Steve pointed out. "That makes you a criminal in my book."

Hammer seemed to admire Steve and watched him carefully. "Look at you the best weapon of them all. America's greatest weapon back from the ice." He went over to Steve and put a elbow on his shoulder like they were best friends. "Tell me when you woke up from being frozen in ice for a couple of decades how badly did you need to go to the bathroom?"

Steve swatted Hammers arm away. "Enough of this. You're coming with us, and you are going to tell us everything we need to know starting with where to find Daniel Turning." He grabbed Hammer by the arm and went to the door which slammed shut in his face. The sound of multiple locks being activated as well as metal bars sliding over the windows made the house more like a bunker.

"Come on Grandpa don't be a spoil sport. Besides I don't even know where the kid is at. He is in the hands of a involved third party." The Avengers tried to ask him more but he just kept talking. " Hey, remember that movie I was watching? Well it's getting to the best part and I know you are going to love it." Steve's grip tightened around Justins arm making him yelp in pain. "Hey now Uncle Sam. Remember who has all the cards right now."

Steve let him go roughly knowing that Hammer was not going to do anything he didn't want to do. He hated himself for thinking it but Tony wasn't nearly as annoying as he had thought.

"Alright so I got the popcorn." Hammer announced leading them into the room he came out of. "I'm a weapons guy so I know how it makes you feel better you can keep your weapon pointed at me. I don't normally allow that but for you guys I'll make an exception."

"Yeah well I wasn't asking." Hawkeye said keeping his arrow ready.

They were led into a dark room with a large screen. The video being projected was low quality most likely from a phone but it was clear what it was. A wormhole that loomed over Stark Tower was the object that filled the screen as Chitauri fell from the sky. The aliens were all dying which meant that the Avengers knew what would come next.

"This is my favorite part." Hammer said enthusiastically. Taking a seat in one of the lounge chairs casually like he had no idea that two master assassins were currently aiming at him with intent to kill.

On the screen a small object fell from the wormhole and was zoomed on just enough so it was clear who was falling. It was the moment after Tony had given his life to save Manhattan from a nuclear attack. Now he was freefalling unable to stop himself. The team stood in stunned silence as the Hulk came from nowhere and caught him. Hammer paused the video.

"It's amazing what you can find on the internet these days." He caught a glimpse of the disapproving glares from the Avengers. "Okay so you aren't fans of the classics. I can see that, and I totally agree. I am a man of the future after all. Let's try something new."

The screen changed to what appeared to be security footage. It was clearly the broken remains of Tony's living room they had all been there long enough to know it offhand, which was easy because of the two Loki shaped craters in the middle of the floor. But nothing prepared them for seeing Tony lying unconscious. The lower half of his body was hidden from the body but they could see enough. He was paler than they had ever seen him and a small pool of blood laid around his head from a wound he most likely got when he passed out. A satellite phone lay just beyond his grasp.

"Tony!" Bruce called as if his friend would hear him.

Natasha wasted no time. She went in front of Hammer punched him once in the face to startle him before grabbing him by the collar, pulling him up, and slamming him into a wall. "What did you do?"

"Robots the size of yeast covering the bullet." He explained with a smile that looked even more crazed since blood was dripping from his bruised, if not broken, nose. "I know it's hard to believe but I can prove it." Holding up a small remote he pressed a button once.

On the screen Tony cried out in becoming conscious again but the pain had him falling back under quickly. A skillfully shot arrow took the controller from Hammers hand and planted it into the wall. Sparks flew out of it like fireworks.

Hammer shook the pain of having the controller ripped from him out of his hand. "Nice shot!" He congratulated Hawkeye proudly. "I mean it was redundant since I have other controllers, but still good try."

Natasha pulled him away from the wall and pushed him against it roughly. "What do you want?"

Justin coughed in pain. "For you never to do that again. Remember Red I can still kill that arrogant son of a bitch even without my controller. With that in mind I suggest you let go of me."

The Black Widow stared at him coldly before letting go while whispering something in Russian that made Clint look slightly terrified.

"Good." Hammer dusted off his suit proudly knowing he had them right where he wanted them. "Now I've set what I call the 'In-Laws' to give your favorite billionaire a shock every five minutes. So you can either spend the time trying to catch me or go and save him from unimaginable waves of agony. Looking a little green there ."

"Why are you doing this?" Bruce asked anger rich in his voice.

Hammer just rolled his eyes. "For a guy who turns into a giant green dude whenever he gets slightly annoyed you sure are boring. You know what for the stereotypical question I'm sorting the time to three minutes now. How long until his heart goes out do you think?"

The team didn't answer instead they just left knowing full well they would break down any door standing in their way. They didn't have time to play a game with a bored billionaire while they had a dying one across the country. Hammer watched as they left from his front door; waving at the quinjet as it took off.


	11. Chapter 11

**(A/N) I'm back! And also I recently released how much I actually ship Clintasha so I'm thinking after this I'm going to write my version of the events of their mission in Budapest. If you have any thoughts on that feel free to tell me.**

* * *

It was starting to feel like every time the quinjet took off it went slower yet faster at the same time. With every dire situation popping up one after another with growing intensity Clint and Natasha pushed to jet as fast as it would go. Though another side effect of needing to be somewhere urgently was how time seemed to slow down. It never mattered how fast they were going it still felt as if time was slower than it had ever been. Every one of them wanted the jet to go faster but they knew that it wouldn't, and with Tony's life hanging in the balance that wasn't something that sat easily in the minds of the Avengers.

"I called S.H.I.E.L.D.," Natasha said as she tried focusing on both flying and informing the team of her conversation with a very angry Nick Fury. "They'll be breaking down Hammer's door in the next minute."

_Good_, Steve thought, _last thing we need if for him to get away_. "Okay what about Tony?"

"Fury is sent his best people to get him." She informed. "We're going to meet with them on the Helicarrier sickbay." Glancing back at Bruce she gave the worried Doctor a small smile. "So doctor do you think you can help find out a way to disable tiny robots."

Though it wasn't his area of expertise Bruce knew a bit of robotics; thanks to Tony's crash course that he gave after Bruce merely remarked on the complexities of some of Tony's robots that roam Stark Tower. "I'll do my best."

"'Best' might not cut it." Clint said angrily as he gripped the steering of the quinjet so tightly his knuckles whitened. "We shouldn't have left him alone."

Steve cut him off. "And have done what? Tony was fine when we left and he showed no indication of being anything other than that. What happened is done let's just focus on getting him healthy and recovering."

They all knew that what Steve said was true, but it didn't take away from the guilt. Only thing that helped them live with it was knowing that Tony would be at the Helicarrier soon surrounded by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best doctors. And soon his worried team.

* * *

Tony was barely aware of being moved onto a stretcher. He didn't even process when he eye was opened and a bright light was shown into it. Nothing really mattered except the temporary relief he felt at that moment. Every other sensation was an after thought to him. The sounds of people yelling around him, the take off of a jet, the landing which soon after brought the smells of disinfectant and more blinding lights. All of that was secondary to the relief, and third to the pain.

It came in flashes each one more intense than the last. They only lasted for less than a minute but each time it felt as though he was being cooked from the inside out. His body arched in pain as he tried to escape the prison it became for those long seconds. As a mechanic Tony was no stranger to being electrocuted so he knew that was exactly what was happening to him. A metallic taste in his mouth was evidence of that, but this was much more than getting zapped by one of his suits.

This was deliberate and made to hurt. Every zap came like clockwork meaning Tony could actually count down to the next unbearable burning infected his body. His heart beat dangerously and he knew it wouldn't take long for it to give out with the torture it was retrieving. Once they had arrived at the place that smelled distinctly of cleaning products he could hear a beeping that seemed to match his frantic heartbeat.

A forceful voice pushed through the fog, one that he couldn't recognize. " my name is Ford can you hear me?" Tony's eye was opened once again to be met with the light that shone down. He tried jerking his head away from the light but realised his head was being restrained by a plastic and foam device of some sort making it impossible to move. Though that didn't stop Tony from trying. " you need to calm down. You're at S.H.I.E.l.D.'s medbay you're safe."

Tony didn't believe him for a second. Sure the smell of the place he was in was that of a hospital, and it would make the most sense for S.H.I.E.l.D. to have picked him up that wasn't what he had an issue believing. He couldn't believe for one second that just because he was where he was that he was safe from what was happening to him. Something that was proven in a few more seconds when Tony found himself writhing in pain again.

"Hold him down." The doctor ordered which caused hands to clamp down on Tony's arms and legs keeping him pinned down. "Tony I'm going to give you something it's going to make the pain stop alright?"

Though he couldn't answer Tony practically begged for whatever was giving him. Anything to make this stop would have been fine with him. A small prick that barely got noticed at Tony's neck told him that relief would soon be on it's way. Sadly it wasn't as strong as he was hoping for even though it took the edge of until the wave of pain ended. The world came back into focus slowly letting him hear the middle of a conversation.

"-ow is he?" A familiar voice asked. Tony couldn't place it since his mind was still scattered.

"He's in a lot of pain." The next voice said solemnly. "We gave him enough sedative to knock him out but whatever is in his system seemed to counteract it. I've never seen anything like this."

"It's nanobots they infected his system. They're attacking him from the inside." The first voice explained. "I'm not sure it will work but the only thing I can think of is an EMP should take out the robots inside him. Of course they could also be protected in who knows how many ways, but this should work."

"Then let's do it." The second voice said. "Normally I wouldn't take medical advice from anyone who hasn't earned their PhD but if we don't do something quickly the pain will kill him."

* * *

**(A/N) If you aren't super techy like me and don't know what an EMP is it stands for ElectroMagnetic Pulse it basically, in accordance with the info i got from Wikipedia, disrupts or damages technology. Any questions on it please use google I'm not a reliable source on EMP's or anything technical like I literally know nothing it is sad.**


	12. Chapter 12

**(A/N) Yes it's short I apologize in advance for that but instead of working on this chapter last night I started on the Budapest fanfic. That would be something I wouldn't post until this is done, and I still have a few things planned for this so enjoy this sort little chapter.**

* * *

When the EMP arrived Bruce started having second thoughts; there were so many things that could go wrong and every one of the possibilities went through his mind. Obviously there was the fact that Justin Hammer, who was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly after the Avengers left, was smarter than Tony gave him credit for and thought around an EMP. But there was also the fact that they would have to remove the reactor while they set off the pulse to make sure that had no chance of being damaged, and with the state Tony was in removing the only thing that keeps him alive out of his body for the third time could have consequences. But when he weighed his options they were clear as day. It was either do nothing and Tony dies for sure, or try this and there is a chance he would survive. He knew that a small chance was all something needed to work.

That left him holding the arc reactor in his hands ready to pull it out and store it in the faraday cage that Fury had provided, apparently the threat of an EMP attack was well thought of leaving them very prepared for the procedure they were about to do. Something also that Clint was very prepared to do to since he volunteered an arrow that had an arrowhead that would create a EMP small enough to take out electronics within a ten foot radius since everyone on the helicarrier could take out New York City if they felt the need.

"We're going to have to do this quickly." Bruce warned the three in the room. , Barton, and himself were the only ones present giving them space. "Once I have the reactor safely locked inside set of the EMP. Don't waste anytime we have less than two minutes to pull this off before the next attack."

"Then let's get this done already." Clint kept his thumb over the manual activation for the arrowhead.

"Count of three." Bruce announced. "One, two three." He pulled the reactor out swiftly causing Tony to flinch slightly but not much else. Instantly Bruce stored the reactor and closed the lid tightly. "Set it off."

Clint pressed the button which quite undramatically set off the pulse. The light above them flickered off but they were prepared and were in one of the rare rooms on the helicarrier with a window giving them all the light they needed. Other than that there was no sign that anything had happened to at all. As the reactor was reattached to Tony's chest they waited for when the next attack would occur if the robots inside him hadn't been destroyed.

"How much longer until we know." Clint asked setting the arrow back in his quiver.

looked at his watch. "We should know in the right about now."

They all watched Tony with knots in their stomach. He was unnaturally pale and his eyes were half open as he barely clung on to consciousness though was too incoherent to speak or do anything at all. Sweat covered his body making his clothes stick to his skin. In a few words he looked like hell and now they watched to see if the torture was over.

At three minutes since the last attack Tony's body tensed but no pain came to it. Sighs of relief were let out as Tony's body went slack and his eyes slipped shut seemingly falling unconscious.

"Go get the nurses outside and bring them in here." ordered Clint. "I need to see the extent of the damage those things made."

Clint nodded and left the room quickly to be replaced by two nurses that brought a mobile heart monitor and a defibrillator they luckily didn't use. After a quick look over the medical team wheeled Tony out of the room to the one that they had set up for him.

"That is something I never want to do again." Bruce muttered as the rest of the Avengers entered the small room.

"Is he going to be okay?" Steve asked watching as Bruce nodded slowly. "Are you okay? You're looking a little green there doctor."

"I'm fine." Bruce sighed leaning against the wall trying to ignore how shaky he was. He was always in fear of the other guy coming out of nowhere when the slightest thing happened. Though he had a good lid on his alter ego on normal day to day situations like Tony constantly trying to set him off when they were working on finding the Tesseract. His anger was something he was used to controlling. But the fear of having one of his only friends die a painful death like that was something else. Words couldn't describe how thankful he was that his team let him just rest there and get himself under control.

"We should go check on Tony." He said after a while. Not even waiting for the rest of them to object Bruce left to go and find . He spotted the doctor filling ordering nurses around. When he saw them waved them over.

"Where's Tony?" Natasha asked.

"He's with our best trauma specialist." He let out a tired sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I wanted to tell you this myself. In an attempt to save itself from any further damage Tony's body put itself into a coma."


	13. Chapter 13

**(A/N) Finals are hell that is all I have to say**

* * *

"We should call Pepper." Clint said as they stared at the prone body of Tony Stark. Nothing, not aliens nor gods, seemed as wrong as the man who rarely even slept laying still as stone. Tubes connected to him from every angle including the one that went down his throat which breathed for him.

Dr. Ford explained to them how the electricity burned some of his internal organs. Though the arc reactor had pulled the bots close together they were modified to fight against the electromagnetic pull, and even without getting very far they caused significant damage to his internal organs making it hard to breath. Which made the rise and fall almost mechanical for Tony's chest bandaged chest, from a cracked rib he didn't tell them he had something he would get an earful about when he woke up.

"Tony told me he didn't want to endanger her." Natasha took her eyes off the pale man that laid in front of her. "But we should still tell her; she'll want to know."

"Pepper?" Steve thought out loud trying to remember where he heard the name before. As much as Tony talked very little of it was about his personal life. All that Steve knew about him was from his file which was mostly redacted leaving him with only the information that he created the Iron Man suit and parts of the events that led to his putting in the arc reactor. "That's his assistant right? The one he made CEO?"

Natasha nodded. "They're dating now, and have been for a while. I asked him if he wanted her here earlier and he was pretty clear that he didn't want her here, said she was safer where she was."

"But with Hammer in custody it should be fine to bring her to the helicarrier. Even with Hammer's third party out there she'll be safe here." Bruce took a chair in the corner of the room knowing that waiting was probably the only thing he could do at the moment.

"I'll make the call." Natasha pulled out her phone and started calling the number. "The news will come best from someone she knows." Briskly the assassin left the room.

Clint gave a curious look to Steve. "You seriously didn't know about Pepper and Tony?"

He shrugged. "We weren't the best of pals when we first met. The only thing that I knew about him was from his file, he's very different from Howard."

Bruce thought back to Tony telling him about his father's obsession with finding Steve. He didn't get all of the facts but growing up with the father he did Bruce sympathised easily. "That's a good thing."

* * *

Natasha leaned against the wall next to the door to Tony's room dreading as every ring went by. This was not a thing she could just leave for Pepper to find in a voicemail. So when she was greeted by Stark Industries CEO there was a definite moment of relief.

" , it's Agent Romanoff." A part of her realised that Pepper might not know her real name.

"Please we have been through to much for you to call me . It's Pepper." Her kind voice came out through Natasha's speakers. "Are you calling to tell me why I have a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent shadowing me?"

"Among other things." Natasha grimaced she wasn't the one to make these calls usually, that was a job something that she saved for others agents. "This isn't something I want to do over the phone, but it's also something I don't want you being worried about on your way here," she took a deep breath. "Justin Hammer escaped from prison and has been trying to kill Tony."

A startled gasp came from the other end. When Pepper spoke her voice was thick was fear. "Oh God, what are we going to do? Is Tony okay?"

"Hammer has been captured and won't be seeing the light of day for a long time." Natasha reassured her, a relieved sigh told her it worked. "But Tony's been hurt pretty bad. He was shot, but the arc reactor took the worst of it."

"Is he alright?" Her voice was almost hysterical over the line. It was startling to hear for Natasha she was used to Pepper being calm and collected not near tears with worry.

"The reactor was replaced, but the bullets had some of Hammers tech on them. It was electrifying him from the inside. He's under care of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best medics but he fell into a coma."

"When can I see him?"

"I'm sending a quinjet to pick you up. You should be here by the end of the day." Natasha was relieved that this conversation was going far smoother than she had expected. She and Pepper said goodbye to each other and Natasha hung up her phone. With a quick message transportation for her was arranged. After taking a moment to breath she joined the others again ready for the waiting that presented itself with Tony's condition.

* * *

Hammer sat on the cold metal slab that was passed off as a bed. He wasn't impatient he was relaxed as he could have been, as though he was laying in his bed. In fact he was whistling his time away watching the vent in the corner of the room. When a faint tapping was heard he smiled slightly.

A small spider like creature slipped through the vent and crawled over to where Hammer laid. The mechanics of it were inspiring and graceful it moved like it was real the sleek black design was only impeded by a rolled up piece of paper.

Sliding it off Hammer read the message and smiled to himself. He ripped the note into tiny pieces and tossed them in the air letting them fall like confetti as the spider crawled away. With a new exuberance he whistled the funeral march.


	14. Chapter 14

As the last of the sun dipped below the horizon Pepper walked through the helicarrier with a concerned yet intent look on her face. When people saw her they got out of her way without her saying a word, whenever she looked slightly confused about her direction they pointed which way she needed to go. She didn't thank them.

The door to Tony's room was open when she arrived. Just enough so that she could see Natasha sitting on a small plastic chair twiddling her thumbs anxiously. It gave Pepper a funny image of Natasha being fidgeting and restless from boredom while waiting for a terrorist strike. If the situation wasn't creating knots in her stomach it would have made her laugh.

When Natasha saw her she sat up smoothly, said something to someone Pepper couldn't see, and headed out stopping Pepper in her tracks. "Before you go in there is a few things you have to know."

Pepper listened intently as Natasha described Tony's condition with precision. Everything that had happened since the morning after the Battle of New York, as it had started being called, was explained to her deeply. Even with the calm way this was all described to her anger burned in her heart and tears in her eyes.

"Can I see him now?" She asked the fellow red haired woman who nodded before stepping out of the way.

Pepper's heels clicked dully as she entered the annoyingly bright room Tony was resting in. A single tear slipped down her face as she saw what was described came to life.

It struck her how funny it was that how something can be described so easily but nothing can be explained to the point where you understand it fully without seeing or feeling it for oneself. Nothing could prepare her for the pale, lifeless, face of the man she loved. Or the way the tube invasively went down his throat. Somethings you had to see to believe, but those are usually the are things you never want to witness.

"Tony." She murmured letting her purse slip of her shoulder and on the ground with a soft thud.

The other three Avengers straightened up before leaving the room to give her some space. Bruce gave her a kind smile and his condolences along with Clint both of which she only knew from news coverage. When Steve shook her hand there was a moment of awe as she remembered all of the stories Tony had told her about his father's obsession with Captain America, most of which was not good, and there he was a man of legend shaking her hand.

"He'll pull out of this, mam." He said kindly.

Pepper gave a small gracious smile before he left leaving her alone with Tony. She walked towards him carefully almost like he would break if she got to close, the smallest disturbance would disintegrate whatever was left of him. When she was finally close enough she held his unresponsive hand.

It was cold. So cold it sent goosebumps across her body and made her shiver. If there hadn't been wires connected to his entire body she would have pulled the thin yet warm looking blanket over the rest of Tony's prone form. Instead she settled for letting her hand warm his slowly.

"You're going to make it through this Tony." She told him brushing back his black hair so it was away from his face since he had no product in it to keep it spiky like he preferred. "Soon enough you're going to come back to annoy me with your loud music, and forgetting dates because of whatever stupid project you lose track of time working on."

Part of her was deeply saddened when his eyes didn't open. Some childish part of her hoped that his eyes would open in some heroic way like what happened in the stupid movies she and Tony would watch from time to time. Deep inside her she thought that being there was all he would need. Apparently she could be as irrational as him as well thinking that there was a way she could solve every problem.

Carefully she stroked the side of his face. "Please come back." A grief filled laugh came out of her as she remembered the last time she had cried in front of Tony. "You know I hate job hunting."

The door behind Pepper opened softly and a woman with black hair tied back in a neat bun and S.H.I.E.L.D. issued medical gear walked entered. "I'm sorry." She smiled kindly. "I just need to take for some testing."

Pepper wiped her tears quickly before returning the same smile. "No problem. Go ahead." She stepped away from the medical as the nurse check to make sure all the machine were attached appropriately, luckily for S.H.I.E.L.D. they had found how to make considerably smaller and lighter so patients were easily mobile.

"Do you know if he's going to be okay?" She asked the nurse who looked stunned before smiling happily.

"I can assure you that will be just fine." She said before wheeling him out.

This left Pepper with her own thoughts for a few minutes as she tried to piece together the events that had taken place ever since she left China. She promised herself that she would never leave his side again, that she would always be there for him. Then she realised how insane that sounded. Even in her grief she knew that she could never stay by his side, and there was little to nothing she could do to protect him. But what she could do was be there when he woke up.

Ten minutes after the nurse had brought him away the rest of Tony's team, and who Pepper assumed was his doctor, entered the room surprise on their faces to see their teammates bed gone.

"Where's Tony?" Bruce asked pointing at the space his friend's bed used to be.

"Some nurse came by and took him for testing, she didn't say what exactly." Pepper said still lost in thought.

The doctor looked confused. "What testing?" He asked. "I haven't scheduled any testing for Tony until tomorrow."

Pepper stood up quickly and looked at them with gleam of fear. "But if he's not getting a test done then where the hell is he?"

Clint didn't waste a second before hitting an emergency lockdown button on the side of the wall setting off alarms and red lights that pulsed on and off. "Tell Fury to shut this place down." He pointed at Bruce forcefully his every work. "No one gets on or off until we know where Stark is."


	15. Chapter 15

**(A/N) It's white and gold.**

* * *

Clint and Natasha traveled the helicarrier with their weapons drawn. They didn't know where Tony was or who took him and they were intent on finding him before whoever had him could do any more harm. Every time an agent ran into the duo they were rewarded with the same sight of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s deadliest operatives aiming at them with intent. Each person they came upon was a dead end and the two Avengers let them all pass.

Whoever had Tony was taking a risk. Even though they were crazy enough to take him right under the nose of the Nick Fury and the worlds greatest superheroes there was no way they weren't getting off the helicarrier as fast as possible.

"Any sign of him yet?" Steve's voice came through the earpieces of the two assassins. Having very little experience with the navigation of helicarrier that was more like a maze for anyone who hadn't been traveling it for extended periods of time he chose to stay with Pepper incase whoever took Tony had friends on board.

Clint tapped his earpiece to reply. "Not yet. But whoever grabbed him going to have to get him off of here is they want to do anything to him, the only way off is by jet or helicopter hopefully we can cut them off."

"Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff." Maria Hill's, Fury's right hand, voice chimed in. "The woman, Melissa, is missing from her cell."

"Repeat." Natasha called into her headset.

"Melissa Turning has escaped from her cell." Maria's voice was out of breath like she had been running around. A normal thing for her being basically the person who kept the helicarrier operational along with Fury. "Damn it," she whispered probably unaware her earpiece was still on. "Justin Hammer is also escape, I repeat Justin Hammer is no longer in his cell."

The line went dead as she, as well as every other agent on the helicarrier, ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. It was the reminiscent to when Loki made his first attack on them.

"How the hell could they, and Tony, both disappear without anyone seeing?" Clint asked as they reached the door to the landing pad and Natasha furiously put the code in. "There's no way anyone could move around here without being seen. Especially with a comatose man in a hospital bed with them. Something's off."

The door lock beeped and turned red with a message that read 'denied.' Natasha tried again before swearing loudly in Russian. "It's not accepting the code. Hammer must of hacked the carrier and reset the code."

"That's impossible." Clint tried the code but got the same result. He tapped his ear piece. "Agent Barton to any responding agent. Is there anyone on the landing pad?"

After a few moments of silence he got a message. "Agent Barton this is Agent Linston, all operatives were ordered off the pad ten minutes ago. It's a bone yard out there."

Natasha studied the door trying to remember the thickness of it and all other details. "You have a arrow that can knock this off?"

Clint was already reaching into his quiver. "Do you even have to ask?" He notched an arrow and waited for his partner to get behind cover before he took the shot. "Hey Fury." He yelled over the comm.

"Yes Agent Barton?" The gruff voice of Nick Fury came through.

"Sorry about the door." He said before he shot an arrow that within seconds of hitting the metal blew a hole right through the middle.

Outside they saw a jet seconds away from taking off. Just as it started rolling off Clint shot an arrow at the wheel of the ship and his aim was dead on. Acid poured out of the arrow eroding the wheel which made the front end of the jet drop the ground.

Without skipping a beat Clint and Natasha ran to the jet as the back door started lowering itself down. Carefully boarding the jet the two looked for any sign of any of Tony or the two who held him captive. Only there was no sign.

The jet was completely empty. When they went to the pilot they found no one but a device that was far out of place laying in the middle of the controls that snaked its way around them and seemed to control the jet. If Tony could see it he would have probably called it beautiful.

Across the landing pad the assassins witnessed through the window in the cockpit as a second jet took off leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. in the dust behind it. Travelling as fast as it could to put the furthest amount of distance between them in the smallest amount of time. Making it near impossible to hit with an arrow or a bullet. Natasha punched one of the metal walls of the jet they were in. hard enough to cause her hand to bleed.

Clint started disbelieving at the jet as it became no more than a dot in the sky."How many times are we going we going to fall for that?"

* * *

"Tony." A soft voice filled his dull mind. Someone was calling his name. "Time to wake up now Tony."

The voice was odd to him. It sounded familiar but filled him with a sense of dread. Like he knew something bad was going to happen just because that voice filled his mind.

"Come on you wouldn't want to miss all of the fun." It whispered though the tone of the voice made Tony think this type of fun he wanted. Which was proven with a sharp slap on the side of his face that made his eyes open out of pure shock.

With open eyes all of his senses came back like how much his entire body hurt. Every inch was stiff and he could barely move a finger; as he remembered the electrocutions that began to make sense. What didn't make sense was how much his throat hurt as if someone had rubbed his trachea with sandpaper. Or how drowsy he felt.

"Sorry if you're feeling a little sluggish just wait for the drug to wear off." The now definitely female voice told him. "Easiest way to move you without you fighting was to induce a coma." The women's dark hair came into focus with the rest of her face. The woman with the gun leaned over him with a psychotic smile on her face. He felt his eyes widen with shock which seemed to please her. "You and me have a lot to talk about ."

* * *

**(A/N Part Two) This is where I leave you until Monday. And if you don't know what I meant up at the top with the first authors note consider yourself lucky that that stupid dress hasn't ruined your life yet.**

**Also take a moment today to appreciate the life of Leonard Nimoy who died today at the age of 83.**

**Live Long and Prosper.**


	16. Chapter 16

**(A/N) Chapters are probably going to be a bit shorter this week because I have so many finals. Still expect updates daily though even if they don't get on until late.**

* * *

Ice cold water fell on him waking Tony Stark immediately alert and aware. Looking around wildly for any indication of where he was Tony saw the steel confining walls of what was most likely a storage unit. How he got there was beyond him but with the gentle way the container swayed back and forth and the faint smell of saltwater told him that he was on a boat.

Tony's eyes focused finally on Justin Hammer standing a few feet in front of him holding a metal bucket that dripped with the remains of the water that had been thrown at him. "As if my day wasn't bad enough."

"Tony." Hammer smiled at him kindly. "Now I know we've had our disagreements but let's try and be civil."

He would have laughed if his body didn't feel like it was on fire. "I'm not an expert on being civil, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't involved being tied to a chair and having water thrown on me." Tony pulled against the restraints on his wrists that tied him to the chair to further prove his point.

"Good point Tony, though I've always found being civilised so boring." He unbuttoned his jacket and threw it off to the side of the crate. "You see Tony I've learned many things from my work with Ivan Vanko. Like how if you want something done the right way you just have to follow your instincts and damn the consequences."

Tony watched his captor carefully keeping track of his every movement; not for one second letting him out of sight. "I wouldn't be taking my life lessons from a psychopath with a personal vendetta against me. Though now that I think about it I can see why you two worked together; it was quite the bromance when you look back on it."

Hammer laughed in a humorous way. "I miss this playful banter of ours. You don't get much of that in prison."

"The inmates not as chatty as you hoped?" Tony twisted his wrists around the leather cuffs that bound him looking for any weakness in them. "So is that why I'm here? Because you went to prison?" He tried to keep Hammer talking since he didn't know what would happen when he stopped. "This a kind of a taste of your own medicine sort of thing?"

"That's just part of it." Hammer went straight up to Tony and leaned in so he was an inch away from his face, all the rage in the world burned in his eyes. "You see there are a lot of people out in the world who hate you Stark, and a good chunk would love to attend your funeral as well as being the cause of it."

Tony glared into Justin's eyes. "If your going to breath in my face would you at least eat a Tic Tac?"

Justin pulled back and slapped Tony once hard on the face before grabbing him roughly by the color of his shirt. "Do you ever shut up?"

His face stung where Justins hand made contact. "I thought you loved our banter." He retorted working the tension out of his jaw.

Justin let go of Tony's shirt and even went as far as to smooth it out for him. "I do, but you see Tony you have a way of pissing people off. Whether it be a one night stand, or someone's child who your weapons have killed. Some of those people, like the person who hired me, are willing to do something about it."

"And this person is alright kidnapping children overall of this?" Tony accused remembering the woman with the gun. She had said something to him before but he couldn't remember.

"Oh come on now, it's not so much as kidnapping as securing a partner. Purely business. Infact Melissa could you come in here?" Hammer called into a random corner behind Tony where he assumed was a security camera.

Soon enough the dark haired woman walked in her hands shaking. "I'm so sorry he made me do everything."

He nodded to the woman and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry soon enough the Avengers will be here." Hammer gave him an odd look at the name of his team. "It grows on you."

"Well know that where you are the Avengers will never find you." Hammer's smile spread across his face. "Oh my partner is going to love this." He pulled out his phone and started dialling.

"Mind putting it on speaker I would love to know who is trying to kill me." Said Tony with a sarcastic grin on his face.

Hammer laughed. "That's very likely." He finished entering the number and put the phone to his ear waiting patiently for the number to begin dialing.

There was a ringing in Tony's makeshift prison. Not just any ringing but the one of a phone. Hammer and Tony looked around confused trying to pin the source both of them having their eyes settle on the woman with dark hair whose no long shaking hand held a phone and in the other a gun pointed at Hammer.

"Voice distorters are a marvelous thing aren't they. It makes it so easy to remain anonymous." Her voice was no longer scared in fact it held no emotion that even resembled it at all. Instead it held the power of a hawk nearing it's prey.

Hammer looked back and forth from Melissa to the gun. "Well that's something I didn't see coming."


	17. Chapter 17

**(A/N) The only day I didn't have a final was today and so naturally I get more homework than is humanly possible to complete. Also if there is anything you aren't sure on about them getting Tony out of the helicarrier be patient all will be revealed in good time.**

* * *

The change in Melissa was staggering. Within seconds she turned from concerned mother to cold eyed so abruptly that Natasha would have been impressed. She admired the phone in her hand coolly barely paying attention to the two people in front of her; it was like she didn't care. But she kept her finger on the trigger and the gun didn't shake from an unsteady hand. No, she had done this before.

"I do have to say I'm a bit disappointed." She sighed turning the phone over and over in her hand her posture screaming with boredom. "The great Tony Stark was so easy to capture, even with the merry band of misfits."

Tony watched her like a child watching a lion at the zoo. "So you're the third party?"

"You're a little slow to to draw, but yes." She pocketed the phone and turned her attention on both of the men. A truthfully happy smile spread on her face. "I've been waiting a long time for this."

Hammer cleared his throat. "Hi, yeah, me again. Would you mind explaining why you are holding a gun at me." He pointed at the gun that was still trained on him.

"I'm not going point it at him." She motioned the gun slightly towards Tony before going back to Hammer. "He's tied to a chair."

"Maybe I wasn't clear. What I meant was why is the gun pointed at me since we are partners?"

"Partners?" She laughed slightly as if the thought truly amused her. "I've been playing you since the very beginning. Honestly I was expecting there to be some trust issues, but you were more than happy to do whatever I said as long as I got you out of prison with a chance to get some payback. But I've got some news for you. You aren't the person delivering the revenge; I am."

Hammer's posture stiffened as he realised he had been played. "Look I can get you anything you want. Money, newest weapons, a plane ticket to where you want. Just say it, let me go, and you can have it."

"Is that your value?" She asked taking him back a bit. "The value of your entire life can be shown in a shiny gun or a flight to Brazil. Is that all that Justin Hammer is to you? Because he means a lot less to me. The man we all saw on TMZ driving those fancy cars and making headlines has one value if you ask me. And that is that is the value of revenge."

Her voice was so calm that it made what happened next surprisingly uncalled for. Tony barley even had time to register a shot going off before Hammers body crumpled to the floor like she had pulled free the only string holding him up. The rival of his laid with his eyes open and a line of blood traveling down his face slowly from the wound right above his eyes.

Melissa took a deep breath as if she had forgotten how to breathe while she was confronting Hammer. She looked almost relieved when Tony thought about it. Her shoulders sagged a bit as if weight had been removed from her. Then her posture returned as she turned to him.

"Tell me do you know why you're here?" She asked setting the gun in her waistband.

"Would I be naive to believe that it was all a ploy to kill Hammer and you are going to let me go now?" He asked and was answered by the smile on her face. "Of course."

"Maybe you can remember the Stark Expo from a few years back with Hammers Droids? Styled after yours I believe."

"You can hardly blame me for having my idea's stolen." Tony defended himself.

"No, I can blame you," she started stalking towards him every step made him lean further into his chair. "I can blame you for putting the idea of the need for the greatest weapon of our time into the mind of everyone with access to news. You planted that seed and what grew from that is your doing. Everyone who died the night is on you."

"Melissa,"

"My name isn't Melissa." She snapped at him harshly.

"I guessed that." Tony tried not to roll his eyes in front of the woman who obviously wanted to kill him. "You aren't the first person who has told me this. I've been accused of being everything from a heartless bastard to a mass murderer and I agree with each of them. You telling me I'm responsible is old news."

"Maybe." She studied his eyes for a few seconds looking for any honesty they could contain. "But you haven't heard one thing. Daniel Lansing a twelve year old boy who was killed by one of Hammer's droids. All he wanted when he grew up to was to be just like Tony Stark so when one of those robots laid broken on the ground when it exploded." The tears in her eyes were filled with rage. "I couldn't reach him in time. Which leaves me with a simple question do you know the pain that fills you when your child dies."

Tony didn't say anything. He obviously never had children so he wouldn't know anything about losing one. But he was pretty sure he was looking at all of the pain, guilt, and anger right now.

She pulled the gun out of her waistband and set the muzzle on his thigh while clicking off the safety. "It feels like you're being tortured slowly every second of the day. You failed to save my son , you will know the pain that you have caused me and more importantly Daniel."

She pulled the trigger.


	18. Chapter 18

**(A/N) Got two tests out of the way today that means I only have three more this week leaving you with a very conflicted author. Am I glad I'm closer to done or sad cause I have so much more to do? Who knows. Anyways enough about finals here's the next chapter.**

* * *

Tony was used to waking up after falling unconscious at some random moment. In the past day or however long it had been since his life was normal he found himself waking up in strange places that seemed foreign to his groggy mind but sometimes became familiar after time passed. The four walls of the storage unit were not things he was happy to see again though. Once stainless steel was now splattered with red blood from Tony's ex-rival along with the pool that sat under Tony from the wound in his leg. Sometime when he had fallen unconscious the wound had been treated as to stop the bleeding leaving him with a thick wrap of gauze around his thigh.

For the moment Tony was alone. Hammer's body was gone leaving a trail of blood out the door of Tony's prison that now had the metallic smell of blood in the air. Melissa was off doing who knew what leaving Tony with his thoughts.

Most of which were about how much his body hurt. His leg burned as if it were on fire; no, fire didn't cover the heat he felt in his thigh. More accurately it felt as if someone had taken the sun from the sky and put it in his wound. Thinking about it made the pain worse, but not thinking about it was impossible. It was still nothing compared to the pain of being electrocuted repeatedly for who knew how long. Electrocution was like being cooked a terrible thing to go through. It leaves its victims confused and stiff like a board, even now Tony could feel the rigour in his limbs.

Past the pain Tony had a few other thoughts. Mainly of Pepper hoping the last time he saw her wouldn't have been with her still upset about his stupid twelve percent comment. But his mind also travelled back to the Afghan cave that he had been held hostage in. He found it funny how he found better options for escaping in a cave in the middle of nowhere than he did in that moment.

Somewhere he knew that people were looking for him just like Rhodey did all those years ago. But another larger side of him was starting to doubt rescue would come. He was on a boat he knew that much and with the world being about seventy percent covered in water and who knew how many boats large enough to fit a container large enough to fit a person. That's also assuming that the team miraculously knew he was even on a boat. Tony was a man of science and math and knowing that the world had over five quadrillion square feet of ground for the Avengers to try and cover looking for him left him with very little hope.

* * *

"How they hell did this happen." Nick Fury was, out of lack of better words, furious. Someone had taken one of his team from right under his nose and no one was the wiser. It was only by luck that they had caught on to what was happening while Tony was still on board.

The Avengers team sat around a large round table like Steve and Tony had when Coulson had passed. Defeat mixed with rage as they got their plan for getting back a lost team member.

Natasha typed furiously away on the laptop that sat in front of her. "Whoever did this was one of us, and I'm willing to bet it was her." She flipped the laptop around so people could see the footage of Melissa sitting in her cell. "That footage is live. She put it on a loop it's impossible to know how long she was in there for."

"And what makes you think this was one of us?" Steve asked appalled of the idea of treason.

Natasha spun the laptop around again and continued to type and explain. "The cell she's in. No one noticed it before but there are small differences from the cell in the footage of her and the one she was supposed to be in. Whoever Melissa really is would have needed to know exactly what our containment cells looked like."

"Couldn't it be just as likely that she had been prisoner in one of those cells." Bruce put out because he like everyone didn't want to believe that an agent from S.H.I.E.L.D. could have done all of this.

"No," said Clint, "whoever she was knew exactly how to get out of the helicarrier without being seen. She's probably part of an infiltration squad."

"A spy?" Bruce wasn't sure why he was so surprised about her being a spy considering he was friends with two of them. "How do you know?"

Clint crossed his eyes almost defensively. "It isn't uncommon for infiltration to find sneak around the helicarrier without being seen."

Natasha let out a brief chuckle. "He get's almost competitive about it. But putting his habit of lurking around the helicarrier aside Clint's right. I'm searching S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database for the right now looking for anyone with Melissa's skill set and any reason to want revenge on Tony."

Clint leaned over her shoulder and watched as she narrowed down the search. "She would have needed a large amount of money to make remake one of our cells, probably facial reconstruction so she wouldn't be recognized. Also extensive knowledge of hacking if she could break down S.H.I.E.L.D.'s firewalls and make the helicarrier her own personal playhouse."

The rest of the Avengers watched in awe as the assassins worked together in such a flawless way. Even though they weren't fighting or on a covert mission they still acted as a team. A skill that Steve hoped that his team would acquire as well as they had, for they quickly found what they were looking for.

"Violet Lansing," Natasha announced with a smile like a spider who had just caught a fly in her web. "Used to be part of a special team of covert operatives that had superior computer skills. She left S.H.I.E.L.D. after her son Daniel died."

"So Daniel was real." Steve said brushing a hand through his hair, stress obvious in his every movement. "He just wasn't kidnapped, he died."

"One year ago at the Stark Expo." She told them what was written down in her personal file. "Says that he was killed when one of Hammer's droids self destructed."

"So this was all to get payback for something Hammer did?" Steve asked not really sure what had happened at the Stark Expo since the last one he had gone to war in World War II. "Why kidnap Tony?"

Fury dropped into one of the chairs at the table looking exhausted. Something that the Avengers weren't used to seeing from him. "She probably blames him on some level since the droids were designed of Stark's suit."

"What I want to know is why S.H.I.E.l.D. didn't mark her down as a threat to an Avenger?" Bruce somewhat asked but mainly accused.

"Technically he wasn't an Avenger at the time." Natasha stated. "He knew about the program but wasn't approved; even so S.H.I.E.L.D. did an evaluation on her mental health and gave her a clean bill of health. The next mission she never came back from; presumed dead. She knows how to hide. I've started a global search but if she is half as good as the file says she is it will take a while."

* * *

**(A/N) Hi, me again. So I wrote a scene from my upcoming Clintasha fic about what happens in Budapest, and it's basically one of the last scenes from it and it's really intense so I just wanted to share how excited I am for that. Don't worry though this one is still another ten or so chapters from ending.**


	19. Chapter 19

**(A/N) Just did my chemistry final and I'm pretty confident on it, but lets hope I actually did as well as I thought I did.**

* * *

" ." Melissa called opening the container door letting in a blinding stream of light. She carried a tray of food with her filled with what looked like a small loaf of bread and an apple. "Can't have you dying on me."

"You know if you didn't want me to die you probably shouldn't have shot me." Tony pointed out not being able to control his sarcasm. Something that if he survived this he would have to work on. "And if you think that I'm going to let you feed me like an infant than you're wrong."

"That's what this is for." She held up a metallic cuff that was connected to a larger leather one. Confidently she went over to her prisoner and attached the metal end to the arm of the chair and wrapped the leather one around his wrist as tightly as possible before removing the old restraint. Taking a few steps back she showed Tony a controller that held two buttons.

With the press of one button a green light was activated and Tony could pull his hand just the right amount away from the arm of his chair for him to be able to feed himself. The cord that connected his arm to the chair was thick and durable something that wouldn't be broken without some heavy duty equipment. With another button click the light snapped red and pulled the cord back into the metal contraption along with his wrist. A not pleasant experience since it brought his wrist down hard enough to make him think it was broken.

Melissa sat the tray of food on his lap and took a few steps back before letting his arm free again. She watched carefully as he picked up and inspected the apple before setting it back on the tray.

"This ain't the first time I've been kidnapped sweetheart. It's also not the first time I've been drugged before, why do you think I got a bodyguard?" He flipped the tray off his lap letting it clatter on the floor.

Melissa's jaw tensed. "You'll starve."

"I'll take my chances." He leaned back in his chair smugly watching they way she tried to hide her frustration from him.

"Alright," she said pulling a long black rod from her waistband instead of a pistol. Flicking a switch at the base of it the rod crackled with electricity. "Straight to dessert than."

The cord pulled Tony's wrist back to the chair making him defenseless. Trying to put on a brave face as she neared him, the thoughts of being electrocuted again was very unappealing to him.

"I've faced worse than you." Tony snarled at her. "I've seen things that I doubt I can ever come to peace with. And I met two gods and destroyed an alien army not two days ago. I made it this far, and you will not be the end of me."

To say shocked would be understating what she was after his speech. She had seen Tony Stark in interviews and he was always joking and carefree, even when he went against the Senate. "You may have battled gods and demons and I may be small fish compared to them, but do you know what else I am?" Her face was mere inches away from his, neither of them flinched or even blinked. "I'm the one with the cattle prod."

This electricity was different it was more precise. Before it had been all over his body, but this was confined making it worse and better at the same time. Though the pain wasn't everywhere it was focused and intense. It burned his skin on contact and made his hands close into fists so tightly he felt blood drip down from closed fist.

It ended quickly, but the short moment of pain left him breathing heavily. Before he could even shake the weariness from his mind it struck him again this time on his left shoulder. Instinctively he tried to move away from the weapon but it followed him and only pushed him harder into the chair.

This time when it ended he was so weak that he fell forward in his chair. If he had not been tied to it he would have fallen. "Bitch," he mumbled.

Melissa laughed evilly. "That's all you can think of? I wish I was sorry to say but we have only started."

* * *

Steve Rogers stared out of the large window in the bridge. No one bothered him since no one was brave enough to confront the twitchy soldier who was waiting for Natasha's global search to finish. Which is why the sound of heeled shoes clicking behind him made the captain think that it was someone with good news, but when he turned around he saw Pepper.

Her eyes were red from tears but angry at the same making the calm way she talked unnerving. "Hope I'm not intruding."

"Not at all." Steve gave her a warm smile and she joined him at staring at the cloudy sky.

"It's funny how I keep imagining that I'm going to see him fly past the window in that stupid suit." She laughed at the thought.

Steve nodded his understanding. "His father would have been proud to see what he's accomplished."

Pepper let out another humorless chuckle. "Maybe the Howard you knew would. If he were alive I doubt he would do much more than tell Tony what was wrong with it."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"There are a lot of things about Tony that people don't understand. Especially when it comes to Howard. Tony's dad was obsessed in with his work so he wasn't really there for him." Pepper explained to the best of her ability.

"The Howard I knew was dedicated but he would never leave his son for his work. He was kind'; I mean he treated me like a son," suddenly he understood.

"He couldn't let you go." Pepper looked at the soldier like he was an artifact. "Tony doesn't talk about his past much; now you know why."

Steve was silent for a while. He found it hard to believe that the man who had been one of his closest friends would neglect his son trying to find him. "I guess that explains why he doesn't like me much."

A lot was made clear about Tony in that moment. Why he was seemed angry with Steve when they met as well as being so short tempered. It made a lot of arguments they had clearer. " , can I ask you something?"

"Only if you call me by my first name. Only stuck up people in suits call me ."

Steve grinned; Tony was a lucky man, he thought to himself. "Pepper, what happened to him in Afghanistan?"

Her smile fell. "I'm assuming you read Tony's file."

"I did, but what happened was missing." He explained. After coming to Steve had a moment where he tried to figure out what had happened to all of his old friends. Seeing that Howard had died was hard, but when he saw he had a son Steve got a hold of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s file on him. Much to his surprise much of what happened when he was taken was either missing or redacted.

"It's not missing," Pepper explained, "he never told anyone. Not the full story at least. All that I know about what happened was from what he told me."

"And what did he tell you." He pushed. "Please he's part of my team."

Sighing she continued. "They wanted him to make a weapon for them and he refused. He was tortured. How exactly he didn't say, but he was terrified of water for so long that I assume he was water boarded." She cleared her throat that was thick with emotion before she continued. "Eventually he gave in, but instead of making the missile he made mark one of the iron man suit and escaped. The rest is history."

It was a lot to take in, and think of the man who had seemed so eccentric going through so much. "He never said anything about that."

Pepper smiled a bit. "That sounds like him."

"Steve," Agent Hill called from the other end of the bridge. "We've got something."


	20. Chapter 20

**(A/N) So here is the revision of tyesterdays chapter. With a nadded scene between Steve and Maria Hill. Sorry that it was so bad yesterday hope this makes up for it.**

* * *

"What is it?" Steve asked Maria Hill as they speed walked along the halls of the helicarrier. They had passed the meeting room long ago and since he was still admittedly shaky with the layout of the helicarrier he had to follow her blindly. Figuring out where he was headed at the moment took second place to finding out what intel they had found on the missing teammate. "What did the search bring up?"

"Didn't stay long enough to find out," she explained as they rounded another corner. "Went to find you the second the result came up." They started to near the launch pad. "Heard Agent Romanoff give the order to prep a jet though, as well as a direct order from Director Fury to accompany the Avengers in the rescue of ."

"He doesn't trust us that much huh?" He asked mainly as a joke, but also slightly curious as to her answer.

"Tony Stark is the only man who knows how to create and, with the exception of Colonel Rhodes, knows how to operate it."

Steve stopped in the middle of the hall disgust etched onto his face. "So is that all his is to you? A resource? Didn't almost dying to save Manhattan mean anything?"

"These are just my orders Captain." Hill replied calmly. "Tony Stark is a valuable asset to S.H.I.E.L.D. just like his father was, but he was never signed on as a member of the Avengers protocol he is just a consultant."

"Last I checked consultants didn't risk their lives in battle."

"It's no secret that doesn't play well with other, or that he has textbook narcissism. That isn't what the Avengers protocol calls for so he remains a consultant. Isn't that the basically the same thing you said when you asked him who he was without the suit?" She wasn't trying to be the bad guy in the situation but her orders were clear and she was ready to follow them.

Though her words shocked Steve and he realised she was right. He basically accused Stark of doing nothing for the sake of others and being basically nothing. "I was wrong to say that. Tony Stark isn't just a man in a suit, or the genius who made it. He's an Avenger."

"You're angry." Agent Hill smiled. "Good, use that anger and get your team mate back."

Confused with her sudden change in mood Steve watch her befuddled. Then it hit him "Did you just play me?"

"Sorry Captain, but of all the Avengers you're the one who Fury was most concerned about saving due to your previous encounters. Just wanted to make sure your heart was in the right place."

"Did I pass?" Asked Steve defensively. He was annoyed that Fury would even think that he would do anything to jeopardize a team mate's life for any reason.

"With flying colors," she heard something through her earpiece. "On our way," she replied. "Time to get moving Captain."

The door to the launch pad opened with ease, a sight that was relieving after the lookdown that Violet Lansing had caused. A small spark of hope was ignited knowing that at least they had the helicarrier back under the control of S.H.I.E.L.D.. It was a small victory if anything but at this moment it was something that they needed.

Out on the launch pad it was windy and the atmosphere was thin enough so they had to wear oxygen masks. A single jet sat on the runway ready to take off. When the captain and agent reached the jet they found the rest of the avengers suited up- with the exception of Bruce for obvious reasons- and ready to go.

"What did you find?" He asked pulling the mask off once he was inside the jet.

Natasha flicked a few switches starting the engine. "Last time she was seen by any camera was on a dock of the coast of New Orleans boarding a large shopping vessel. She was seen loading a storage container on board. I did a quick satellite search of the area and found the missing quinjet a few miles away."

"Do we know where the ship went?" Steve asked not quite sure how satellites really worked. It was one of the things on his large list of things to research along with a few movies and other pop culture things that Tony had suggested.

"I tracked the ship to a few miles into the golf. That's where we're headed now." Natasha had the back door lift off and checked with Clint to see if they were ready to go.

As they lifted up Clint called through the P.A. system. "You might wanna buckle up. If you think we were going fast before you're about to be proven wrong."

* * *

A beeping noise went off and the electricity stopped. Tony breathed heavily going suddenly limp as the torture stopped. His mind was spinning so much that he could barely keep the choppy thoughts that went through his head. They were everywhere going from thinking solely about how screwed he was too about the randomest things that had nothing to do in his mind at the moment.

He was barely able to make sense of the words Melissa told him. "Well if your friends are acting like they should then their global search should be done. The Avengers are on the way." She looked at him expectantly seeming slightly disappointed when he said nothing. "Nothing to say have I really left you speechless?"

Tony attempted a shrug. "What do you want me to say? You're obviously three steps ahead of everyone here. It's like trying to beat Cap' in a race to download itunes, it's not even fair to be honest it's just funny to watch him struggle."

She laughed a bit. "You just think you have me all figured out don't you ?"

"I wouldn't say I have you all figured out," he said, "but I do have a working definition."

"Oh, do you?" She asked amused with him. "Then tell me who am I?"

It was a trap, he had been in situations like this with women before and they never ended well. But he had been tortured and shot twice so he felt like he didn't have much else to lose at this point. "Obviously you're intelligent, and badass if you don't mind me saying so I'm assuming you did intelligence work for someone. You had a son, but I'm guessing that the dad is no longer in the picture, or you wouldn't have gone all psycho."

"How do you know I wouldn't?" She asked defensively.

Tony knew he hit par with her; it was obvious in her eyes. "Because I've seen that look in your eyes all of my life. You're lonely, but you think you're too strong to need someone. Of course you're not though no one is, only a fool thinks they are."

"Are you forgetting who's in control here?" She asked.

"You're the one who asked for my definition of you and I can give you it in three words, You are foolish." He regretted the words even as they came out of his mouth.

The glare she gave him chilled his bones and created god bumps over his sweaty body. She kicked open the door to the container just in time for him to see a jet fly over them. "We're invisible to them, by the time the circle back to search all the ships nearby we'll be long gone. Everything is just how I wanted it; could a fool pull this off?"


	21. Chapter 21

**(A/N) Hey so if you haven't read the comic books, which is fine I know some people get on a high horse about that, then you probably don't know that Clint is 80% deaf. How is a long story and it's very interesting so I would suggest at least looking into it but it comes up in this chapter so I just wanted to let you know.**

* * *

The door to the helicarrier opened slowly giving Steve a full view of the turquoise water below. Wind whipped his face so he slid on his helmet to keep his hair out of his eyes. This wouldn't be the first time he jumped out of a speeding jet but it would be the first without a parachute.

"How long until we get there?" He called up to Clint who surprisingly was less than two feet away. Steve looked up to his spot near Natasha that Agent Hill had filled.

"What?" Clint asked making sure his bow was tightly collapsed and in it's holster; as well as the quiver being tightly covered. "You think that I would let you get all of the glory of being the daring hero? Besides I trained most of the infiltration recruiters everything she knows about keeping people out I know better."

"This still feels risky." He looked out at the water again.

Clint agreed, but it wasn't the riskiest thing he had ever done. Budapest had that won. "This bitch has been ahead of us every step of the game. If she is half as good as I think she is than somehow she spoofed the satellite footage. After a thermal imaging we found that this was the only ship with two people on it. She is expecting us to fly past, and she's cocky enough to not think that you and I are actually on board."

"Then I hope you're ready for a swim." Said Steve grateful for Hawkeye's presence in this mission. This was Clint's area of expertise and he had already proved himself capable more than once since they had met.

"Well I forgot my swimsuit." He looked to the water and gauged how fast they were going. "Guess I'll just have to compromise." His smile was confident though that wasn't exactly how he was feeling at the moment.

Clint was good at hiding it but he was still shaken by the events with Loki. The night after the Battle of New York he had woken with a start in the middle of his exhaustion driven sleep. He woke with a hand clutched to his chest; the feeling of ice spreading through his entire body taking over his mind. An echo of his nightmare still clung to him as he heard Loki's voice over and over in his head telling him to murder any S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that went in his way. The things the trickster told him to do to Natasha he would never forget.

Twenty two agents had the misfortune of running going him on to helicarrier. On account for the murders being against he will Clint had been cleared of any punishment, but each of the faces of the people he had killed that day stuck with him. Having all of the guilt of twenty two deaths but no punishment was enough to make him feel like he couldn't breathe and somewhere he felt as if Loki was laughing at him. This was his final victory, he had still won Clint's mind.

If Clinton had told anyone, even Natasha, how he sometimes felt so guilty he could barely think past the faces of the twenty two agents. Clint Barton was compromised, but his personal issues weren't going to be the cause of another death. Especially the death of a friend.

"Barton?" Steve snapped his fingers in front of the archers face taking him out of his thoughts. "Are you alright?"

Clint nodded and put his goggles on. "Fine. Let's do this." Almost to casually Clint walked to the edge so the wind tore at his clothes.

Once Steve had joined him they both gave each other a nod before stepping out of the jet and into the air. Falling through the air was not only exhilarating and terrifying but it was also a lot faster without a parachute. Within seconds they were diving into the water feet first. After the short swim the Avengers reached the side of the ship and with some special tech that S.H.I.E.L.D. had loaned them were able to scale the side of the shipping vessel with ease.

While still handing off the edge of the ship Clint peaked over the rails to get the layout of the ship. "There are two security camera's in the immediate area one of them facing us."

"How are we going to get past them?" Steve asked peeking over to see the two little red lights blinking repeatedly. One ten feet away while the other was so far that Steve was unsure how his partner even was able to notice it with the quick glance he had.

Clint pulled a device about the size of a pen. "With a bit of good old fashioned payback." He clicked the end or the device causing it to emit a small beep. "She put our camera's on loop; so do we." He pocketed the device. "Karma's a bitch."

He pulled himself over the railing and landed on the deck without making barely any sound as his feet touched the ground. Quickly, as though on relex, the archer released his bow, uncovered his arrows, and got into a ready stance.

Though Steve wasn't some blundering idiot he was nowhere near a spy. He could be stealthy if he wanted but it was like someone had muted Clint. A quick mental note was made to begin training with him and Natasha.

Slowly they made their way through the ship until coming up to one of the shipping containers before they stopped. Clint held up another device and held it up to the container. A thermal image went on the screen that showed a mainly blue container but in the middle there was a red hot body sitting in a chair.

"He's in here." Clint whispered before opening the door to the container carefully looking for any traps. Not seeing any they entered the container.

Tony was unconscious, his head lolled on his chest. Blood covered the ground beneath him from a leg wound that had been poorly treated as a crimson stain had formed over the bandages. He was also covered in a cold sweat and there were some burn marks in his shirt.

"Natasha," Clint said into his comm, "we got him. Rendezvous in ten minutes." There was a reply and he started listing of Tony's injuries while the Captain went to the injured mechanic.

"Tony?" Steve shook his shoulder in attempts to rouse him. "Stark, wake up." He tapped Tony's face lightly which got a reaction from him.

"Either I've finally cracked or you were outsmarted my host." He joked as Steve used his shield to break the clasps on the restraints. "Remind me to get one of those. They seem handy."

As Steve inspected the wound he tried to keep up conversation to keep the billionaire from going into shock. "Good luck getting your hands on vibranium."

Clint came over and kneeled in front of Tony. "Hey sleeping beauty last I saw you were in a coma."

"More like Snow White actually, I was poisoned." Tony stated as they helped him up and slung his arms over both of their shoulders. "My heroes." He joked.

With no warning Clint fell to his knee's screaming. His hands covered his ears to hide himself from a noise that no one else could hear. The usually collected archer was curled in on himself clawing at his ears for an unknown reason.

"Hawkeye!" Steve called to his friend who didn't answer. He set Tony down kindly on the floor before going to the archer who laid on the floor. "Clint what's wrong?"

Without answering Clint pulled two tan colored devices out of his ears and through them across the room. Panting he laid on the floor with his eyes closed and a faint trickle of blood coming out of his ears. "Hearing aids." He attempted to explain.

"You're deaf?" Steve asked in shock and was answered when Clint didn't even acknowledge that he had said anything.

"Oh yes he is," Violet opened the door of the container, "and a sonic burst at a frequency that only his hearing aids can pick up cause a considerably amount of discomfort." She looked over to the body of the agent who had recently passed out. "I did my homework on all of you. Like you captain, you're the kind of person who jumps on a grenade to save others." She pulled out two guns and aimed each of them at a different one of his team mates. "Sorry but I thought a grenade on a boat was a bad idea. So you have three options. You can do take out me and bet that my reflexes aren't as good as you know they are, you can save one with your shield and let the other get shot, or you can put your shield in front of one and you in front of the other. Your call captain."


	22. Chapter 22

**(A/N) Hey it's me. Just saying that the end of this fanfic is coming probably sometime this week. Also in personal news I just cut my hair, don't know why that's relevant it's just that I cut like 8 inches off and then dyed it black so it's been a weird day.**

* * *

"Your call captain." She clicked the safety off on both guns before she started counting down. Both pistols aimed towards different agents, one was steady prepared to kill someone she believed had the right to die. The other though was slightly shaking not believing in the victim behind the barrel. "One, two," she and Steve both tensed, "three."

Quick as possible Steve kicked the injured archer out of the way and blocked the bullet meant for Tony with his shield. Without so much as giving Violet any time to collect her self he tackled her with all the weight that the super serum had given him. "I choose the forth option."

"Nice line." Tony muttered pushing himself in a more comfortable position on the wall he was leaning on. A mission that proved useless with his entire body in pain. "Was that off the top of your head or?"

"Shut up Stark." Steve grinned knowing that even though he was injured it wasn't enough to stop his sarcastic comments. He sat Violet up and grabbed zip tie handcuffs out of one of his pockets, an invention that he was quite fond of.

"Let me go!" She screamed tears forming in her eyes realising that any chance of getting revenge back was gone. "Please, let me go you don't understand." Violet struggled against her restraints tears now freely sliding down her face while Steve went to check on his team.

"Tony are you okay?" Steve asked the mechanic whose breathing was being forced out. The question was redundant to ask seeing how he was definitely not okay but Steve asked it more to keep Tony conscious and talking rather than medical reasons.

"I'm alive." Tony grimaced holding two thumbs up. "How's Barton?"

Steve looked to the man who started to stir looking around seeming lost. He thought about asking how he was but that would have been in vain considering that the man was deaf. "Honestly I have no idea."

Clint looked worse for wear. He was pale and had thin trails of blood dripping out of his ears. Once he had gotten the blur from his vision gone he caught the captains eyes. "I can read lips." He informed.

"Are you good?" Steve asked slowly making sure that Clint got every word.

Clint nodded standing up carefully unsure of how good his balance was at the moment. He picked up the bow he had dropped and walked over to Steve who brought their injured mechanic to a standing position.

"Let's get out of here." Steve muttered pulling Tony out of the container while Clint grabbed Violet who didn't protest.

There was no reason for her to fight. She had failed her son again, no amount of fighting would fix that. After all the planning and preparation she had done she had failed. There was no other way to put it than that. Failure was the only thing that went through her mind. Tony Stark was still alive and Daniel was still dead.

As they went on the quinjet and Tony Stark was laying back happy to be rescued she found more tears forming. This was her son's hero that had been the reason for his death laying back filled with the joy of being alive. Where was her sons joy? His chance at finally being at peace, his murderer dead, was gone. Violet couldn't help but wonder why he got to live.

"I'm sorry." Tony Starks voice drove her from the self pity Violet had indulged herself in.

Confused and seething with anger she glared at him. "What did you say to me?"

"I'm sorry for your loss." He repeated himself gaining strange looks from his team, save Hawkeye who couldn't hear what Tony had said, who thought it impossible for him to be able to apologize for anything. "I didn't know your son and I don't know half of what you're feeling right now, but I am sorry that he is dead because of me."

She actually laughed at him. Her blood boiled as she became the type of angry that made you know that you were still alive. "What do you think that is supposed to do? Do you think that apologizing is going to make all of this better for me? Maybe if I was some doe eyed girl that you never called after a one night stand I would accept an 'I'm sorry.' But I will not accept an apology you don't really mean."

"Tony you don't have to do this." Bruce told him while using what little medical knowledge he had to treat Tony's wounds.

"I do mean it." Tony ignored him. "I've always meant it. My legacy was to make weapons and I made the greatest of all and called it peace. Hundreds have died because of what I've done and I will never know all of their names," surprisingly tears made it into Tony's eyes. "There are things that I will never be able to apologize for, but please let me try."

"Tony," Bruce said calmly as possible, "it's alright. You have a fever, you need to stop talking. Try to relax." He put a hand on Tony's chest to keep him leaned back in his seat but Tony just swatted it away.

"No, Bruce she has to know." He pleaded before falling into a coughing fit.

"I know Tony." said Bruce. "But your leg is infected and you're running a fever getting stressed won't help you need to relax right now."

Tony started muttering apologies in his delirious state of mind. The fever had taken hold quickly and made his already weakened mental status it's prey.


	23. Chapter 23

**(A/N) Here we are the final chapter. I won't say much except thanks to everyone who has ever reviewed. Even though I didn't do shutouts I did read everyone of the reviews I received. And if I've said this a million times I wouldn't say it enough cause believe me you are all the most amazing people for giving the good feedback I got about this.****So with out further ado. The last chapter of Shot Through The Heart.**

* * *

Two weeks later Violet sat numbly in a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison made to contain people like her. Any agent who had ever gone rouge had been successfully contained in this facility including those vastly more skilled than Violet had been kept under lock and key for years. Something made very easily when there were no visitors allowed inside the concrete walls. Which is what made it odd when Violet had been informed she had one.

She didn't have to be told who it was visiting her. Nor did she have to look up when the sound of business shoes clicked on the laminate floors of the meeting room. Just the way it sounded as his shoes hit the ground swelled with confidence that came from years of having an ego that was well fed. Tony Stark took the chair in front of her.

"Hows the food?" He asked a tremor almost audible in his voice.

Violet snickered. "I beat you, electrocute you, shoot you, and drug you and the first thing you ask after what I presume was a battle against a nasty infection is how the food is?" She looked up to him taking note of his dull silver suit and purple tie. "What's the suit for?"

"Nothing much," he replied to casually, "you know just sending off an alien and his crazy brother. After dropping a friend off at the airport I jumped on helicarrier and came right here."

"Miss me that much?" She leaned back in the metal chair ignoring how the handcuffs resisted her moving to far away as she was chained to the table. The irony of him being free while she sat shackled in a metal chair was not lost on her. "Honestly though. Why are you here?"

The smirk was gone from his face. "You know why, and I know that you don't want to hear what I have to say but that has never stopped me before."

"Please don't." Violet held a hand up trying to stop the billionaire before he got on his high horse.

"No, because saying that I'm sorry why half out of my mind isn't enough. I don't remember much of what I said on the quinjet but something I do remember saying was about how I am the reason for hundreds of deaths and that was true. Your son isn't the first and I doubt he'll be the last and honestly he's the only one I know the name of."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" She asked visibly disgusted. "Like how my son is the flickering light in the darkness of you conscious?"

Tony shook his head dismissing everything she said. "You know what you shut up until I'm done okay?" He asked but didn't let her answer. "Before I took up residence in a cave I was taking a drive through the desert with a few soldiers. There was one who was probably barely old enough to drink who asked to take a picture with me. Shortly before the picture was taken our humvee was attacked, and I watched him get killed with the weapons I made to protect him. I never knew what his name was and I still don't. When I was rescued my friend Rhodey was about to tell me but I stopped him. I thought to myself about all the people who lost their lives at the barrel of my guns there is no way for me to know them all and I didn't want to make one more important than the others.

He took a deep breath before continuing. "That soldier is the reason I am who I am today. He opened my eyes to the destruction I had caused, some of it he had probably seen first hand. But do you know what he did in the picture? He through a peace sign up. It was something I will never forget, seeing a sign for peace from a man who died from war just a few seconds later. Every press meeting or senate hearing I've had after that I've put up a peace sign." He demonstrated by holding up his middle and pointer finger. "Most people think it's just a pose for the press or an ironic joke for everyone else. But it's for the victims, it's for Daniel and Coulson and the hundreds, thousands more out there."

He was silent for a while so Violet took it as an opportunity for her to speak. "I'm not going to apologize for what I did to you. I won't even say sorry. No part of me cares if you went on some existential journey and came out of this enlightened. In fact you finding peace with all of this just makes it worse. You get to live on after this. But what happens to me? Where is my peace?"

They studied each other for a long time each other before Tony spoke again. "You need to forgive yourself first of all. I watched the security footage there was nothing you could have done to save him."

"Forgive myself." She seemed to test the words to see if they tasted right in her mouth. "That worked for you?"

Tony shrugged. "Wouldn't know. I haven't tried." One of the guards in the room went over to Tony and whispered something in his ear. Tony pushed himself out of his chair and smoothing out his suit. "My time is up." He walked over to the door of the meeting room and grabbed the handle but did not open it. "At least try forgiving yourself though you deserve it."

Like that he was gone. With a quick flare the billionaire Tony Stark left the meeting room both of them knew they would never see the other again, and both were glad.

Violet's gaze turned back to the handcuffs around her wrists. There was nothing particularly interesting about them but they were something to look at until she finally lost herself. For the first time since Daniel had died she truly let herself grieve. Not seek revenge, but just let her anger slide into something more.

Tony exited the meeting room and rested against the closed door. Achieving still from all of his collective injuries. He probably should have listened to the doctor who had suggested bed rest for another week, but the thought of it made him crazy. When he gained enough strength to open his eyes and head back to the helicopter ready to take him home. Seeing Nick Fury watching him from across the hall was almost as terrifying as having a private sit down with the woman who tried to kill him.

"Do all S.H.I.E.L.D. agent have to learn how to scare the crap out of people or do you and Barton just enjoy it especially?" He asked heading down the hall with the director in tow.

"Believe it or not but I used to be a better spy than Agent Barton." Said Nick casually as they strode down the hall. "But my past isn't the issue here. Yours is."

Tony sighed dramatically. "Do we have to do this now, cause I'm actually kinda busy. You know how work get's seems to get piled up when you're hospitalized for two weeks."

"Stark, out of all of the Avengers you are the biggest target." Fury explained. "You've made more enemies than most people have friends, and your live in a tower with your name on the side like you're some kind of rich cartoon character."

"Actually most of the letters fell off so it's just a huge 'A' now." Tony didn't waver when Fury gave him a death glare, somehow having half as many yes made it twice as threatening. "Look if anything bad comes up I'll handle it."

"Like you handled this one?" Fury crossed his arms like a teacher questioning a child who fell asleep during the lesson.

"Admittedly not my shining hour, but honestly how many more S.H.I.E.l.D. spies do you have that want to kill me? Besides Agent Romanoff." Tony went to walk away again but Fury grabbed his arm.

"The Avengers might have saved you this time Stark, but I'm not sure about the next. After a few weeks of a well earned vacation Barton is off on a solo mission he could be back in a month or in two years. Agents Romanoff and Rogers will be on call for whatever mission we need them for. Thor is up in Asgard and might not return, and if he does then he will most likely have some earth shattering dilemma to deal with. Meanwhile has made it clear to only bother him if the world is in crisis."

"I don't need the Avengers to keep myself safe." Tony pulled his arm out of Fury's grasp that was restricting to say the least.

"Is that any way to talk about your team?" Nick asked raising an eyebrow.

Tony mirrored the expression but his had a glint of confusion in it. "What do you mean my time? I'm just a consultant. I don't play well with others right?"

When Nick spoke there was annoyance in his voice. "Do you seriously think that just because you're a narcissistic ass that I'm going to keep you off the team after what you did?"

Tony could feel himself smiling like an idiot. "I'm truly touched. I didn't know that you were capable of admitting you were wrong about me."

"I didn't."

Tony pulled the man in for a hug mainly for the reason that he knew that Fury would hate it. "Shut up, I love you too." He pulled away and headed down the hall again this time he wasn't stopped. "Well call me the next time you have a rogue alien, but not for a while I got a date."

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright?" Pepper asked Tony as he pulled a more casual shirt over his new arc reactor chest piece.

He was finally healed enough to put the reactor in and he never thought he would actually miss the weight of it in his chest. "Please, I'm fine. Besides we have a lot to do."

Tony went into the kitchen and grabbed the drink that Jarvis had prepared for him. It was some kind of immune system thing that Bruce had told him about. Apparently it was something he had found in his time as the local doctor in Calcutta. When Tony took a sip it just tasted like he had pureed a forest.

Pepper laughed at the disgusted look on his face as she looked over the blueprints in front of her. Placing a palm on one of the images and lifting it up a small to scale image of the new tower appeared in front of her. Tony walked around her, took another drink trying to decide if he liked the drink or not before setting it down and deciding he did not, and spun the image around with the flick of the wrist.

"Our new home." She smiled down at the hologram that emitted a blue glow.

"Twelve percent your home." Tony joked earning a small punch from his girlfriend before they both broke into laughter.

Pepper swiped the image cutting it in half. "Fifty percent."

Tony put an arm around her and inspected the building before pushing the image completely off of the table. "One hundred actually. Where do you want to start?"

She gently pushed his head away from the table so he was looking right in her eyes. They lingered there for a minute both of them just happy to see the other. "How about right here?"

He nodded before pulling her in for a kiss. So many moments over the past few weeks he felt like he would never reach this. Being home and safe with the only person who ever mattered. The one he would protect to the end of the world. Finally everything was alright.

* * *

So as time passed and more age long vendetta's came to light Tony kept fighting them off one by one. He helped those who asked, and those who threatened him or anyone he loved he dealt with. And though Manhattan was not the sleepy city it had been two weeks before where a pin drop could be heard across the city there was something else. Something in the comforting noise of honking horns and mindless chatter that lifted all the way up to the helipad of Stark Tower where Tony watched the town moving. There was a sense of safety that was doubted to ever return.

Because the Battle of New York and the weeks to come after where the hardest that the world had ever seen. Most believed it meant the end of the world had come. And though there was a constant fear that clung to the air there was also something more. The promise the Avengers had made to protect the world at whatever cost necessary no matter what happened to them. A promise Tony was part of and he would fight to protect until the end.

And though he might not have the Clint's eye, or Natasha's agility. He didn't even come close to having the heart of Steve who would jump on a grenade to save the life of a man who could have been bullying him all of his life just because Steve believed in second chances. Also he was nowhere near the strength of Thor and Bruce. But Tony Stark was one thing. Something he sometimes forgot the meaning to but always found in the end. Tony Stark is Iron Man.


End file.
